Appeal trial of bribery case at Market Management Team No. 4

(Baonghean.vn) - After 1 day of deliberation, on the morning of September 26, Nghe An Provincial People's Court sentenced 3 defendants, former officers of Market Management Team No. 4, under Nghe An Market Management Department, for accepting bribes.

Early in the morning, it was raining but the three defendants Nguyen Quoc Hung, Trinh Xuan Nam and Le Xuan Hai, former officers of Market Management Team No. 4, along with their wives and relatives, were present at the Provincial People's Court to hear the verdict.

The three defendants Hung, Nam and Hai at the appeal court.

According to the indictment, at about 8:00 a.m. on October 4, 2012, the working group of Market Management Team No. 4, including Nguyen Quoc Hung (residing in Dien Chau town, Dien Chau district); Trinh Xuan Nam (residing in Tan Phuc block, Hung Phuc ward, Vinh city); Nguyen Duc Anh (residing in Lien Co block, Hung Binh ward, Vinh city) and Le Xuan Hai (residing in Nghi Phu commune, Vinh city), with Hung as the team leader, was driving on National Highway 48 to Dien Doai commune, Dien Chau district when they discovered a male subject carrying two sacks, suspected to be wild animals. The working group turned around and chased them until they reached Quynh Luu district where they were arrested. After a preliminary inspection, the working group discovered two sacks of goods containing wild animals, so they brought the goods and the owner, Mr. Bui Tien Thi (residing in Yen Thanh), to Market Management Team No. 4 stationed in Quynh Luu for handling.

It is worth mentioning that when bringing the banned goods and the owner to the unit, the working group did not make a record of the seizure of the goods and did not need to know the address of the owner... Finding it unreasonable, in the afternoon of the same day, Mr. Thi called the market management team and was "quoted" 40 million VND. He bargained for 20 million, then 30 million VND but was told: "no bargaining". After 2 rounds of negotiation, Mr. Thi was finally "fixed on the price" at 35 million VND.

Upon receiving the accusation from Mr. Thi, the leaders of the Economic Police Department sent a working group to Market Management Team No. 4 to investigate and clarify, and at the same time confiscate all the bribe money. At the investigation agency, the subjects all admitted to receiving bribes from the owner of the goods. Nguyen Duc Anh stated that he did not know about the money transfer between Hung, Nam, and Hai with the owner of the goods and did not participate in the transfer of goods and money, so the investigation agency did not have enough grounds to prosecute Nguyen Duc Anh. After completing the case file, at the end of May 2013, the People's Court of Quynh Luu district brought the case to trial against the defendants Nguyen Quoc Hung, Trinh Xuan Nam, and Le Xuan Hai, who were prosecuted by the district People's Procuracy for the crime of "Receiving bribes".

At the trial, the subjects all confessed their actions and said that the bribe was directed by Hoang Van Dung, the captain of Market Management Team No. 4. Immediately after capturing the wildlife, Hung directly reported to the captain and when the owner asked to redeem the goods, Hung also reported to Dung and was directed by Dung. Even when the owner, Mr. Thi, asked to reduce the price to 35 million VND, Hung called to ask for Dung's direction.

At the end of the trial, the People's Court of Quynh Luu district sentenced Nguyen Quoc Hung to 4 years in prison, Trinh Xuan Nam to 3 years in prison, and Le Xuan Hai to 2 years in prison. After that, all 3 defendants filed an appeal for a reduced sentence. In addition to asking for a reduced prison sentence and a suspended sentence, defendant Hung also requested to confront Mr. Hoang Van Dung, Captain of Market Management Team No. 4, to clarify his criminal behavior. Hung's request was informed by the court that Mr. Hoang Van Dung had submitted a request for absence due to illness, with confirmation from his superiors. However, at the appeal court, Hung still claimed that the bribe was directed by Dung, and that he was only following orders from his superiors. However, Hung's accusation was not enough evidence for the prosecution agency to prosecute Mr. Dung for the above crime.

After clarifying the nature of the case, considering the mitigating circumstances according to the defendants' appeals, it was found that after committing the crime, the defendants confessed honestly, showed remorse; had many contributions to society, especially defendant Nam had more than 30 years of work experience, including time participating in the battlefield in Laos; at the request of the Provincial People's Procuracy, on the morning of September 26, the panel sentenced defendants Nguyen Quoc Hung from 4 years in prison to 3 years in prison; Trinh Xuan Nam from 36 months in prison, reduced to 2 years in prison with a suspended sentence and Le Xuan Hai upheld the original sentence and sentenced him to 2 years in prison. The time to serve the sentence is from the date the defendants were arrested.

Le Thanh Binh