The case of 'The tycoon and the model' is among the most concerned cases in 2017.

Mr. Dinh La Thang was arrested for wrongdoings during his time as Chairman of the Board of Directors of PVN, Trinh Xuan Thanh returned to Vietnam to surrender after being on the run abroad for embezzlement of 18 billion VND, tycoon Vu "Nhom" was wanted... topped the list of most concerned cases in 2017.

The most publicized cases of 2017

On May 7, 2017, Mr. Dinh La Thang - then Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee - was disciplined with a warning by the Party Central Committee and dismissed from the position of Politburo member.

May 10: The Politburo dismissed Mr. Thang from his position as Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee. Subsequently, Mr. Thang was temporarily suspended from the National Assembly, suspended from Party activities, and on December 8, prosecuted and temporarily detained.

On December 26, the Supreme People's Procuracy issued an indictment to prosecute Mr. Thang for intentionally violating the law in the case at the PVN Oil and Gas Group and its subsidiary PVC.

One day later, on December 27, the Supreme People's Procuracy continued to indict Mr. Thang for intentional wrongdoing in the case of PVN losing 800 billion VND investing in OceanBank.

It is expected that the Hanoi People's Court will try Mr. Thang and the case at PVN and PVC on January 8.

Portrait of Trinh Xuan Thanh

Causing scandal since holding the position of Vice Chairman of Hau Giang Provincial People's Committee with a Lexus with a blue license plate in mid-2016, Trinh Xuan Thanh was expelled from the Party and then suddenly fled abroad after submitting an application for medical treatment.

The investigation agency has prosecuted and issued an international arrest warrant for Trinh Xuan Thanh for intentional wrongdoings due to violations when Thanh held the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Petroleum Construction Joint Stock Corporation - PVC.

In July 2017, Trinh Xuan Thanh returned to Vietnam to surrender.

After investigation, on December 26 and 27, the Supreme People's Procuracy issued two indictments to prosecute Trinh Xuan Thanh.

In the case at the PVN Oil and Gas Group and its subsidiary PVC (together with Mr. Dinh La Thang), Thanh was accused of embezzling 14 billion VND. In the case at the Vietnam Oil and Gas Power Real Estate Joint Stock Company (PVP Land), Trinh Xuan Thanh was accused of embezzling 4 billion VND.

The case of Mr. Phan Van Anh Vu (commonly known as Vu "Nhom", 42 years old) - known by the nickname "mafia" in Da Nang, who was prosecuted for intentionally revealing state secrets in mid-December 2017, has attracted special public attention.

Mr. Phan Van Anh Vu (commonly called Vu "Nhom")

Notably, before fleeing, Vu Nhom had transferred many assets to others, but the Da Nang authorities requested a temporary halt to transactions related to Vu "Nhom"'s assets. An international arrest warrant for Vu "Nhom" was also issued.

Le Lam Hung was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

With the excuse of needing money to pay off debts due to losing gambling and football betting, Le Lam Hung - an electrical engineer working at Thermal Power Project Management Board 3 planned to rob a bank.

On the afternoon of April 26, Hung, wearing protective gear and holding a gun (a pellet gun), stormed into Vietcombank in Duyen Hai district, Tra Vinh, threatened the employees, robbed nearly 1.6 billion VND and 35,900 USD, and then escaped.

After 10 days of investigation, on May 6, Hung was arrested. Tra Vinh Provincial People's Court then tried and sentenced Hung to 20 years in prison.

The case between Truong Ho Phuong Nga and Cao Toan My was temporarily suspended pending further investigation results.

The case attracted public attention when Truong Ho Phuong Nga - a former Miss Vietnam in Russia - was accused by her ex-lover, tycoon Cao Toan My, of defrauding 16.5 billion VND. The trial of the beauty queen in June 2017 took place with intense debate between the two sides.

While Mr. My accused Nga of fraud, the former beauty queen said that it was money Mr. My gave Nga according to their love contract.

Faced with new evidence appearing in the case, the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City had to decide to postpone the trial, return the case file for further investigation, and change the preventive measures, allowing Phuong Nga to be released on bail.

After receiving the file back, the investigation agency decided to temporarily suspend the defendant Phuong Nga, pending the results of the appraisal and verification of evidence.

The case of smuggling fake cancer drugs at VN Pharma Company, by General Director Nguyen Minh Hung and his accomplices, brought to trial by the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City, has left many questions.

Is there any irregularity in the Ministry of Health's "lightning-fast" licensing of VN Pharma's smuggled drug batches? Why isn't the commission of more than 15 billion VND that VN Pharma paid to doctors clarified? Is there still a case of people and criminals being let off the hook?

Mr. Nguyen Minh Hung cried in court

After the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court sentenced General Director Nguyen Minh Hung to 12 years in prison, the High People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City held an appeal, annulled the sentence for reinvestigation and ordered the temporary detention of defendant Hung right in court (previously defendant Hung was released on bail).

The particularly serious case involving many banking tycoons such as Ha Van Tham, Pham Cong Danh, Hua Thi Phan... was also the reason why a series of former leaders of the PVN Oil and Gas Group such as Mr. Dinh La Thang, Trinh Xuan Thanh, Phung Dinh Thuc... were prosecuted and detained after the 800 billion VND that PVN lost when investing in OceanBank.

Characters involved in the Ocean Bank scandal

In this case, Nguyen Xuan Son - former General Director of OceanBank gave many testimonies about the money transfers between the bank and PVN leaders. Nguyen Xuan Son was sentenced to death by the Hanoi People's Court, Ha Van Tham was sentenced to life in prison.

Portrait of two death row inmates who escaped from T16 prison

Despite being shackled in solitary confinement, on the night of September 10, two death row inmates Le Van Tho (aka Tho "sút") and Nguyen Van Tinh still managed to break through the wall and escape, then used ropes and climbed over the wall to escape from the T16 detention camp of the Ministry of Public Security in Hanoi, causing many people to worry.

After more than 5 days and nights of intensive searching, on the evening of September 16, the police arrested Tho "sút" when Tho was in Nam Sach district, Hai Duong province (near Tho's hometown). In the early morning of September 17, Nguyen Van Tinh was also arrested at a drug hotspot near Hang Kia - Pa Co, Mai Chau district, Hoa Binh province.

The investigation agency then also initiated a case, prosecuting three officers of T16 prison for negligence in allowing detainees to escape.

Mrs. Pham Thi Xuan (the baby's grandmother)

The news that a 23-day-old baby girl was kidnapped by two strangers from her grandmother's arms has caused concern among many people. The incident shocked the public even more when two days later, the girl's body was discovered by a scrap collector at a garbage dump in Bim Son town, Thanh Hoa.

After investigation, the police determined that the baby was not kidnapped and murdered, but the suspect in the girl's death was Mrs. Pham Thi Xuan (65 years old, the baby's grandmother).

After being prosecuted and arrested, Ms. Xuan confessed that she accidentally killed her grandchild, so she set up a fake crime scene and falsely reported that her grandchild was kidnapped.

On December 16, a male sanitation worker in Hoa Lan 1 neighborhood, Thuan Giao ward, Thuan An town, Binh Duong was shocked to discover a plastic bag containing a man's head in a trash can.

Afterwards, authorities searched and discovered many other body parts of the man and identified the victim as Mr. Tran Thanh Tu, 37 years old, from Soc Trang.

The investigation agency quickly collected evidence and identified the main suspect as Hang Thi Hong Diem - 32 years old, Mr. Tu's wife.

The suspect in the case is Hang Thi Hong Diem - Mr. Tu's wife.

After being arrested, Diem confessed to hacking Mr. Tu to death on the night of December 15 when he came home drunk and the couple had an argument.

According to Diem, Mr. Tu held a knife and slashed her, and Diem grabbed the knife and slashed Mr. Tu to death. After that, Diem thought of a way to dispose of her husband's body, so she cut off his head and other body parts and threw them in many places.

According to Tuoi Tre