Trial of 2 former Directors of the Department of Vehicle Registration and 252 defendants
From the leaders of the department, the rooms to the inspection centers, they all agreed and directed the inspectors to receive money from the center and the vehicle owners to ignore the errors.
Ho Chi Minh City People's Court today opened a trial for 254 defendants related to violations that occurred atDepartment of RegistrationVietnam and inspection centers in Ho Chi Minh City, Long An, Ben Tre, Soc Trang.
The trial is scheduled to last for 3 months (from July 18 to October 18), chaired by Judge Huynh Van Truc - Deputy Chief Justice of the Criminal Court of Ho Chi Minh City People's Court. In addition, the trial panel also includes Judge Tran Minh Chau and 3 people's jurors.
The representatives of the People's Procuracy attending the trial were prosecutors Tran Thi Lien, Nguyen Vu Mai Diem, Le Truong Ha Linh, and Pham Van Hien.
Due to the large number of defendants, the trial will be held at two locations, including the headquarters of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court and the hall of Chi Hoa Detention Camp (T30 Cu Chi).
Among the 254 defendants are two former Directors of the Vietnam Register: Mr. Tran Ky Hinh was tried for the crimes of Receiving bribes and Abusing position and power while performing official duties; Mr. Dang Viet Ha was tried for the crime of Receiving bribes.
The remaining defendants were tried for the crimes of: Giving bribes; Receiving bribes; Brokering bribes; Forgery in work; Producing, trading, exchanging or giving away software for illegal purposes; Illegally infringing on computer networks, telecommunications networks, or electronic devices of others; Forging documents of agencies and organizations; Using fake documents of agencies and organizations; Fraudulent appropriation of property; Abusing positions and powers while performing official duties; Embezzlement of property.
According to the accusation of the People's Procuracy, although they were officials of the state management agency in the field of vehicle quality inspection, technical safety, labor safety, and environmental protection, the leaders of the department and division went to the inspection centers to agree and direct the inspectors to receive money from the center and vehicle owners to ignore the errors.
By turning a blind eye to his subordinates, defendant Tran Ky Hinh received bribes of more than 7.1 billion VND from his subordinates. After defendant Hinh retired, defendant Dang Viet Ha took his place and also received bribes of more than 8.5 billion VND, after just over 1 year in office.
By October 2022, when the police discovered and handled the violations of the inspection units, fearing that his actions would be discovered, defendant Dang Viet Ha returned 5 billion VND to Tran Anh Quan (then Acting Head of the Department of Motor Vehicle Inspection, Vietnam Register).
Next, defendant Ha asked Lai Thai Phong (former Deputy Chief of Office of the Vietnam Registry) to "listen in" to see what violations the police were handling at the registration centers. Phong said he would ask Nguyen Van Chung (who has many relationships with the police) to help find out.
After that, Ha asked Quan to return the 5 billion VND that he had previously returned and then transferred this money to Phong to give to Chung. However, Chung was not able to investigate the information and took the money.
After being arrested, defendant Dang Viet Ha filed a complaint against Phong and Chung.
