From November 20 to December 5, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court held a first-instance trial of the case of Violating regulations on management and use of state assets causing loss and waste; Giving bribes; Receiving bribes; Taking advantage of positions and powers to influence others for personal gain against Mr. Le Duc Tho (former Secretary of the Ben Tre Provincial Party Committee) and 14 other defendants related to violations occurring at Xuyen Viet Oil Trading - Transport - Tourism Company Limited (abbreviated as Xuyen Viet Oil Company).
In the case involving Xuyen Viet Oil Company, the Supreme People's Procuracy prosecuted Mai Thi Hong Hanh, former Chairwoman and Director of the company, on two charges of Bribery and Violating regulations on management and use of State assets causing loss and waste.
Mai Thi Hong Hanh, former Chairwoman and Director of Xuyen Viet Oil Company.
According to the indictment, Mai Thi Hong Hanh bought shares of Xuyen Viet Oil Company in 2005, when the company's charter capital was 50 billion VND. After only 6 years, the charter capital increased to 3,000 billion VND. By 2013, the company had grown strongly with 15 branches, 6 gas stations and 9 related companies.
In 2016, Xuyen Viet Oil Company was granted a license to import and export petroleum by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, making this enterprise a leading petroleum trader. From then on, Ms. Hanh became known as the "boss" in this industry.
Investigation results show that Ms. Hanh and Xuyen Viet Oil Company took advantage of being assigned to manage the Petroleum Price Stabilization Fund to appropriate assets.
According to the indictment, since 2016, Ms. Hanh has directed her employees to not comply with regulations on setting up the Petroleum Price Stabilization Fund. The money in the fund was transferred from the company account to her personal account for private use.
In May 2023, Xuyen Viet Oil reported that the balance of the Price Stabilization Fund was 219 billion VND. However, in reality, the total balance in the three reported accounts was only more than 2 million VND, leading to a loss of 219 billion VND to the state budget.
In addition, Xuyen Viet Oil Company was also accused of violating regulations on environmental protection tax management. From October 2021 to July 2022, the company collected 1,244 billion VND in taxes but did not submit them to the budget but transferred them to Ms. Hanh's personal account for use.
When the authorities investigated, out of a total of 36 accounts (17 personal accounts of Ms. Hanh and 19 company accounts), there was only more than 4 billion VND left, making Ms. Hanh unable to pay back the tax amount she had embezzled. The total loss to the state budget amounted to more than 1,200 billion VND.
Ms. Hanh used the embezzled money to buy real estate, lend money and especially bribe many officials to "circumvent the law".
The investigation agency determined that from 2016 to 2022, Ms. Hanh paid bribes 22 times with a total value of up to 31.5 billion VND.
Specifically, Hanh's group bribed defendants such as Do Thang Hai (former Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade), Tran Duy Dong (former Director of the Domestic Market Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade), Hoang Anh Tuan and Nguyen Loc An (both former Deputy Directors of the Domestic Market Department), Le Duc Tho (former Secretary of Ben Tre Provincial Party Committee) with a total of more than 1.2 million USD...
Mai Thi Hong Hanh was also accused of giving many luxury Patek Philippe watches to a number of officials. Of these, Mr. Le Duc Tho was given 4 watches (one worth about 10 billion VND); 1 set of Honma golf clubs, worth 1.1 billion VND; 1 Mercedes S450 Luxury car, worth 6.7 billion VND; and gave Mr. Tho 200,000 USD. In addition, during his time as secretary of Ben Tre province, Mr. Tho received money and birthday gifts from Ms. Hanh many times, congratulating him on his new position... The total amount of gifts was about 22.1 billion VND.
Accordingly, the total amount of bribes and gifts is about 53.6 billion VND (more than 2 million USD).
The indictment concluded that the actions of Ms. Hanh and related subjects not only caused serious damage to the state budget but also damaged the public’s trust in management agencies. With the above violations, Ms. Mai Thi Hong Hanh faces many serious charges, including abuse of power, property appropriation and bribery.
Bribery to maintain personal interests and the company's development has created a series of violations, highlighting loopholes in petroleum business management, requiring rectification and strict handling to ensure transparency and fairness.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/chu-tich-xuyen-viet-oil-dung-hon-2-trieu-usd-hoi-lo-tang-qua-cuu-quan-chuc-ar908098.html
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