Former Ben Tre Secretary Le Duc Tho and 14 defendants in Xuyen Viet Oil case appear in court

On the morning of November 20, Ho Chi Minh City People's Court opened the first instance trial of 15 defendants in the case that occurred at Xuyen Viet Oil Transport and Trading Company Limited (Xuyen Viet Oil Company).

The trial, chaired by Mr. Tran Minh Chau, is expected to last until December 5.

Representative of the People's Procuracy at the trial.

In this case, Mr. Le Duc Tho, former Secretary of Ben Tre Provincial Party Committee (from July 2021 to September 2023), was prosecuted for the crimes of Abusing position and power to influence others for personal gain and Receiving bribes.

Mr. Do Thang Hai (former Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade) and Mr. Tran Duy Dong (former Director of the Domestic Market Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade) were also tried on charges of accepting bribes.

Defendant Mai Thi Hong Hanh, Director and Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Xuyen Viet Oil Company, was prosecuted for the crimes of Violating regulations on management and use of state assets causing loss and waste and Bribery.

Defendant Nguyen Thi Nhu Phuong (former Deputy Director of Xuyen Viet Oil) was tried for violating regulations on management and use of state assets, causing loss and waste.

According to the indictment, Xuyen Viet Oil Company, established in 2005, increased its charter capital to VND3,000 billion with 15 branches, 6 petrol stations and 9 related companies. In 2016, Xuyen Viet Oil was granted a petrol import and export license by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, becoming a major petrol trader, despite not meeting the requirements.

To obtain this license, Ms. Hanh bribed Mr. Nguyen Loc An, Deputy Director of the Domestic Market Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade, with a total amount of VND921 million, including VND400 million in cash and a Patek Philippe watch. Based on Mr. An's proposal, on August 22, 2016, Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai signed and granted a license to import and export gasoline to Xuyen Viet Oil for 5 years.

In June 2021, when the license was about to expire, Ms. Hanh continued to direct her employees to prepare bribes for officials of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to re-issue the license. Mr. Do Thang Hai received a bribe of 50,000 USD (about 1.1 billion VND), Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan received 5.9 billion VND and Mr. Tran Duy Dong received 5.6 billion VND from Ms. Hanh.

From 2019 to 2021, while he was the General Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors of VietinBank, Mr. Le Duc Tho received a bribe of 600,000 USD (13.8 billion VND) from Ms. Hanh to maintain a credit limit of 5,000 billion VND for Xuyen Viet Oil Company. When he became Secretary of the Ben Tre Provincial Party Committee, Mr. Tho continued to take advantage of his position and influence the VietinBank Ben Tre branch so that Xuyen Viet Oil Company could borrow 400 billion VND at a preferential interest rate.

Ms. Hanh was accused of violating regulations on the management of the petroleum price stabilization fund and environmental protection tax, causing a total loss of VND1,463 billion. To conceal the violations, she bribed Mr. Dang Cong Khoi, Deputy Director of the Price Management Department, USD20,000 to ignore the fact that Xuyen Viet Oil did not submit the account statement of the Price Stabilization Fund. In addition, Ms. Hanh also bribed Mr. Le Duy Minh, former Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department, USD190,000 and VND500 million to delay the issuance of the decision to enforce tax debt collection, to avoid affecting the company's image.

Hoang Tho

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/cuu-bi-thu-ben-tre-le-duc-tho-va-14-bi-cao-vu-xuyen-viet-oil-hau-toa-ar908408.html