Phan Van Anh Vu, alias Vu Nhom, a 44-year-old property magnate turned fugitive spy, has lodged an appeal against his entire first-instance verdict for his improper land sales in the central coastal city of Danang and HCMC that cost the State millions of dollars.

Phan Van Anh Vu (front) sits in court during his trial in Hanoi in January 2019. He has been jailed for the third time after a court convicted him of corruption over murky land deals, which he has appealed

The People’s Court of Hanoi City was cited by the Vietnam News Agency as saying that the court has received a letter of appeal from Vu, chairman of Danang-based Bac Nam 79 Construction JSC and former chairman of HCMC-based Nova Bac Nam 79 JSC and former senior lieutenant colonel.

In his letter, Vu claimed that he was completely innocent of abusing his positions of power, so he did not concur with the first-instance verdict of the lower court, and proposed the Hanoi Superior People’s Court hear the case in line with appeal procedures. In this case, Vu was sentenced to 15 years in jail.

Four other defendants also filed their appeals against the first-instance decision.

Phan Huu Tuan, 64, former deputy general director of the General Department of Intelligence, and his former subordinate, Nguyen Huu Bach, 56, suggested the higher court consider the nature and extent of their offenses, as well as the circumstances surrounding the case to reduce their sentences. The duo received five years of imprisonment for abuse of power.

Bui Van Thanh, 60, former deputy minister of public security, brought an appeal, seeking probation instead of a prison term of two and a half years. He urged the higher court to take his extenuating circumstances into account.

Tran Viet Tan, 64, who was defrocked of his title as the former deputy minister for the 2011-2016 tenure, did not accept the judgments of the lower court on the charge of negligence leading to serious consequences or the three-year prison sentence levied against him. He suggested the higher court make a review to safeguard his legitimate rights and interests.

According to the indictment, Vu moonlighted as an operative for the General Department of Intelligence in 2009, leaving the organization in 2017. He worked under the umbrella of Bach, Tuan and Tan.

Between 2009 and 2016, Bach suggested Tuan sign various documents for submission to the then-deputy ministers of public security, who were negligent in approving the multiple proposals masterminded by Vu.

These proposals suggested the governments of Danang and HCMC, as well as a number of relevant agencies, create favorable conditions for his companies, which were regarded as front companies for the ministry.

During the period in question, his companies were able to acquire or rent seven public land lots and their landed homes in prime locations in the two cities at concessional prices without going through the due process of bidding, among other preferential treatments.

Vu then claimed these properties for himself and his relatives and transferred some of them to other individuals and organizations to earn illegal profits without interference from the police, leading to a combined loss of more than VND1.15 trillion (nearly US$50 million) for the State budget.

The former property magnate and spy was allegedly trying to flee to Europe when he was detained in Singapore in January 2018 while carrying two passports, one real and one fake, and was swiftly deported back to Vietnam.

His first conviction in July saw him jailed for nine years, later reduced to eight, for leaking State secrets, though his crimes were not detailed for national security reasons.

In December, he was sentenced again to 17 years in prison for abusing his power to pocket VND203 billion (over US$8 million) from HCMC-based DongA Commercial Bank in a share purchase deal, for which he has appealed the verdict.

SGT