The High-Level People’s Court in Hanoi on June 8 decided to uphold the charge of “asset embezzlement” given to defendants in the asset embezzlement case at PetroVietnam Power Land JSC (PVP Land).

At the court

In February 2018, the Hanoi People’s Court sentenced Trinh Xuan Thanh, former Chairman of the Board of Directors of PetroVietnam Construction Corporation (PVC), to life imprisonment.

Thanh’s accomplices, Dao Duy Phong, former Chairman of PVP Land’s Board of Directors, was given a jail sentence of 16 years.  

Dinh Manh Thang, former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Song Da Oil and Gas Investment and Commerce JSC, got nine years in prison.

Le Hoa Binh, former Chairman of the Board of Directors of 1/5 Construction and Services JSC and Minh Ngan JSC, and Nguyen Thi Kim Thoa, former chief accountant of 1/5 Construction and Services JSC and Minh Ngan JSC were sentenced to eight-year and six-year imprisonment terms, respectively.

Thai Kieu Huong, former Deputy General Director of Vietsan Investment JSC, and Huynh Nguyen Quoc Duy, a self-employed trader, each received a prison sentence of 10 years. 

All these defendants were charged with “asset embezzlement” in accordance with Article 278, Clause 4, Count a of the 1999 Penal Code (now is Article 353, Clause 4, Count a of the 2015 Penal Code), according to the court. 

Six out of the eight defendants lodged their appeals against the first-instance sentences. However, Thanh and Phong then withdrew their appeals. 

Meanwhile, Thang, Huong and Duy asked for a reduction in their jail terms. Thoa claimed she is innocent in the case. 

Phong’s wife, Nguyen Thuy Hoa, who was involved in the case as a person with related interests and obligations, also lodged an appeal requesting the return of 2 billion VND of the money that her family had paid to correct the consequences of the case as the cash is more than the requested amount. 

After reconsideration, the High-Level People’s Court in Hanoi decided to maintain the 6-year jail term handed down on Thoa. Together with the life imprisonment sentence given to Thoa by the court on March 15, 2017, she will spend the rest of her life behind bars.

Duy still has to face a prison term of 10 years as ruled by the fist-instance court. Meanwhile, reduced jail sentences of seven years and eight years were given to Thang (previously nine years) and Huong (previously 10 years). 

The appeal court also refused Hoa’s appeal requesting the return of 2 billion VND.

Between February and mid-April 2010, Thanh, as Chairman of the Board of Directors of PVC, along with Thang, Duy and Huong, with the support of Binh and Thoa instructed Dao Duy Phong and Nguyen Ngoc Sinh, representatives of PVC’s capital at PVP Land,  and Dang Sy Hung, chief of PVP Land’s economic and planning division, to transfer 12.12 million shares of PVP Land at Trans-Pacific Services JSC – the parent company of Vietsan to Minh Ngan JSC with a price lower than the deposit price. 

They appropriated a differential sum of more than 87 billion VND (3.86 million USD).

Of the money, Thanh arrogated 14 billion VND, while Thang pocketed 5 billion VND; Phong, 8 billion VND; and Sinh, 2 billion VND. 

The defendants received a total of 49 billion VND from the deal.

According to the verdict of the first-instance trial, among the defendants, Thanh played the decisive role in the case, followed by Phong and Sinh.-VNA