VietNamNet Bridge - Police in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho have finalized investigations into the alleged graft of a former head of a state-run collective farm, maintaining the charges that were laid against her in a previous trial.

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Last June the Supreme People’s Court has ordered a fresh investigation into the case against Tran Ngoc Suong, the former director of Song Hau collective farm in Can Tho, for running a slush fund.

Le Viet Hung, deputy chief of Can Tho City Police Department, told a press conference Tuesday that the conclusions of the new investigations remained unchanged, except for the fact that the police found out the slush fund was worth VND10.1 billion (US$483,700) instead of VND9 billion as announced before.

He said investigators had asked the Can Tho City people’s Procuracy to lay charges of “running illegal fund” against Suong and her subordinates.

Last year, following an appeal, the Supreme People’s Court had overturned a jail sentence meted out to Suong, saying the earlier trial was riddled with mistakes.

The original verdict, a suspended eight-year jail term, caused furor among the public and media who said the case was handled poorly.

The 62-year-old Suong was also ordered to pay VND4.3 billion in restitution to the government after being found guilty of instructing her employees to misuse more than VND9 billion from off-the-books funds during her tenure as director from 2001 to 2007.

The money had come from the sale of government-owned farmlands, according to the indictment.

Suong claimed the “slush” fund was actually a welfare fund for the collective, used to help members in financial need.

She lodged an appeal with the People’s Supreme Court and the People’s Supreme Procuracy, saying the law-enforcement agencies had “seriously violated legal proceedings and the sentence was unlawful and unjust.”

The sentence was, however, suspended due to her deteriorating health.

The Song Hau farm was once viewed as a successful model for agricultural development. Suong herself won the Asia Pacific Impressive Woman Award in 2002 and Vietnam’s Labour Hero award in 1999.

Source: Tuoi Tre