Police chief denies responsibility when Vu 'Nhom' manipulates prime land

This morning, the first person to be questioned, Phan Van Anh Vu, said he founded and operated the companies Bac Nam 79 (Da Nang) and Nova Bac Nam 79 (Ho Chi Minh City) since 2000. In 2009, Vu was recruited by the police as an intelligence officer, assigned the sole task of economic development, with no other duties.

Although General Department V (General Department of Intelligence) used Vu's business as a front company, the company operated independently financially and only reported on business activities. "The defendant developed according to the assigned tasks," Vu affirmed before the Hanoi People's Court.

In Da Nang, seeing that the Tan Chinh Ward cooperative was operating ineffectively and had to close, Vu proposed supporting the people there to create jobs. Vu affirmed that everything was reported to General Department V according to the correct procedure.

With the project 319 Le Duan (Da Nang), Vu saw the potential for profit in this abandoned real estate so he promoted the acquisition. Vu affirmed that all procedures and order of transfer for this project were carried out in accordance with the law. Vu himself contacted the leasing unit to discuss compensation and clearance.

"The defendant applied for the project to operate the business, but why did he transfer the assets under his name?", asked presiding judge Truong Viet Toan. Vu presented a "complete story", explaining that due to financial difficulties, Bac Nam 79 Company did not have money while Da Nang set a condition that if the money was not paid within 60 days, the right to purchase would be lost. Vu therefore agreed with Bac Nam 79 to lend money to buy. The two parties made a loan contract, but the indictment did not include this content.

"Lending is different from having your name on the house. If the defendant had shown from the beginning that Bac Nam 79 Company did not have enough financial capacity, would the city have decided to sell the house?", the judge asked. Vu explained quickly, in an urgent voice, that the company had to invest in many projects at the same time, so it was not possible to handle it at that time.

Defendant Nguyen Huu Bach testified that he was assigned to draft official documents related to a number of projects implemented by Vu. He said he could not remember much, but that he had drafted all the official documents proposed by Vu under the direction of his superiors.

According to defendant Bach, if there were no official dispatches or directives, Vu would still have these projects. "The documents from General Department V only help speed up the process," the former deputy director of General Department V testified as a defendant.

The chairman immediately said that in reality, there were many other companies that also requested land for the project, such as Bac Nam 79 and Nova Bac Nam 79, but they were not approved. All documents sent to the Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City authorities stated that this was "to serve business activities".

Explaining the meaning of "business activities", defendant Bach said that it was an activity through business. But the judge pointed out that Vu did not use these projects for business activities but rented them out and transferred them for profit. Mr. Bach said he did not know about this.

"How could you not know? What did the defendant think?" the judge asked. Mr. Bach still insisted that he did not know all the projects. When drafting the documents, he only followed the instructions of his superiors and now he regrets it very much.

Responding to the jury about the "service of business activities" of the two companies managed by Vu "Nhom", defendant Phan Huu Tuan (former deputy director of General Department V) said that each intelligence officer must have a front company. Therefore, Vu was assigned the task of economic development.

When the judge said that according to the regulations, General Department V only supports front companies in terms of professional matters, defendant Tuan explained that their perception of the mission was also different. General Department V was allowed to recruit intelligence officers from outside the society, set up front companies and develop them until they became strong...

Mr. Tuan only admitted to signing and releasing documents in some projects, and the fact that Vu misused them happened after he retired. Throughout the entire interview, Mr. Tuan spoke quickly, sometimes stuttering.

When called to confront, defendant Vu stated that in addition to the 7 projects with "prime" locations as charged, he also "requested many other projects" but was not mentioned in the indictment. "All projects serve economic development, serve professional activities as assigned by Mr. Tuan. When Bac Nam 79 is strong enough to reach the international level, then General Department V will support machinery...", Vu stated.

Standing up straight and speaking slowly, former Deputy Minister of Public Security Bui Van Thanh said that when he was in office, he was assigned to be in charge of logistics, engineering, and real estate. With the 129 Pasteur project (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City), he signed two official letters "requesting to buy" to serve professional activities. He did not know that Vu immediately sold the project afterwards because no one reported it to him.

He admitted that with this project, the business purpose was not realized. As a deputy minister with many tasks and a support staff, he did not know what was behind the story.

Contrary to Mr. Thanh, former Deputy Minister Tran Viet Tan stated that in his role as head of General Department V, the defendant did not sign any documents requesting to purchase or lease the projects, but only signed some documents to expedite procedures. He did not know that Vu transferred the projects right after they were granted. He accepted responsibility as a leader for not knowing the problem.

According to the accusation, Vu "Nhom" took advantage of the name of the front organization of General Department V to request ministries, branches and local authorities to lease land, transfer land use rights and assets on land of seven public housing and land projects with an area of ​​up to thousands of square meters in prime locations in Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City without auction, contrary to the law.

After the two front companies were assigned the right to use and the assets in the above plots of land, Vu "Nhom" transferred them to himself, his family members or associated with others. This purpose was not in the professional activities of the police force but to gain personal profit, causing a loss of 1,160 billion VND to the State.

The prosecution agency concluded that the above behavior of Vu "Nhom" was a crime.Abusing position and power while performing official duties, according to Clause 3, Article 356 of the 2015 Penal Code with a penalty of 10-15 years in prison.

As the signers of the documents, requesting the People's Committees of Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang to allow Vu "Nhom"'s front company to receive the right to use 7 plots of land with a total area of ​​6,700 m2 of houses and 26,800 m2 of land, worth more than 2,500 billion VND, Mr. Bui Van Thanh (former Deputy Minister of Public Security), Mr. Tran Viet Tan (former Deputy Minister of Public Security), Mr. Phan Huu Tuan (former Deputy Director General of the General Department of Intelligence, namely General Department V, Ministry of Public Security), Mr. Nguyen Huu Bach (former Deputy Director) were prosecuted for two crimes.Abuse of position and power while performing official dutiesandLack of responsibility causes serious consequences.