Former Chairman of Khanh Hoa sentenced to 5 years in prison

In addition to sentencing the former Chairman of Khanh Hoa Province and 8 former officials of the department to prison for violations at the Muong Thanh Vien Trieu project in Bai Duong, Pham Van Dong Street, Nha Trang City (Khanh Hoa), Muong Thanh Vien Trieu Joint Stock Company must return the amount of money it benefited from the project's violations, over 356 billion VND, to the budget.

Defendant Nguyen Chien Thang was sentenced to 5 years in prison in the Muong Thanh Vien Trieu case.

For the crime of "Violating regulations on management and use of state assets causing loss and waste" occurring at the Muong Thanh Vien Trieu project, the People's Court sentenced defendant Nguyen Chien Thang (former Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee) to 5 years in prison.

Defendants Dao Cong Thien (former Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee) and Vo Tan Thai (former Director of the Provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment) were sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Defendant Nguyen Ngoc Tam (former Deputy Director of the Provincial Department of Finance) was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison and Vu Xuan Thieng (former Deputy Director of the Provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment) was sentenced to 2 years in prison.

The defendants Tran Quang Buu (former Deputy Director of the Department of Construction), Nguyen Van Nhut (former Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Investment), Tran Sy Quan (former Deputy Director of the Provincial Tax Department) and Le Huy Toan (former Vice Chairman of the Nha Trang City People's Committee) were all sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison.

The verdict determined that the 9 defendants in the Muong Thanh Vien Trieu case had many violations in selecting investors, granting investment certificates, and agreeing on architectural and planning plans.

These defendants also committed violations in issuing decisions on land allocation, land lease, land valuation, land price approval and granting of land use right certificates without going through auctions or bidding.

The defendants' actions caused a loss of more than VND 5.6 billion to the state budget in 2015; and more than VND 356 billion as of January 6, 2022 (when the violations were discovered).

This sentence was given by the People's Court of Khanh Hoa province after determining that the defendants' actions were dangerous to society, directly violating the order of management and use of state assets, causing loss and waste.

The panel of judges also determined that the defendants had caused negative public opinion, reducing the people's trust in the Party and the State, and therefore needed severe punishment. After considering all the aggravating and mitigating circumstances of each defendant, the court sentenced them to the above prison terms.

Mr. Nguyen Chien Thang paid 20 million VND in compensation, while the other defendants paid 10 million VND in compensation. When the trial took place, defendants Dao Cong Thien paid 30 million VND, and defendants Tran Sy Quan, Vu Xuan Thieng, Tran Quang Buu, and Le Huy Toan also paid an additional 10 million VND each to correct their violations.

Mr. Tran Sy Quan - Former Deputy Director of Khanh Hoa Provincial Tax Department heard the verdict in court.

Previously, Mr. Thang, Thien and Thai were sentenced to prison by the People's Court of Khanh Hoa province for violations in the projects of Cuu Long Son Tu spiritual eco-tourism area, Vinh Trung river and mountain villa project (in Nha Trang city), the project of handing over prime land of the old Khanh Hoa Political School headquarters (No. 1 Tran Hung Dao, Nha Trang city) to Thanh Yen Joint Stock Company, and the Nha Trang Golden Gate project (No. 28E Tran Phu, Nha Trang city).

Combining all four sentences, former Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Chien Thang was sentenced to a total of 22 years and 6 months in prison; Mr. Dao Cong Thien to 16 years and 6 months in prison and Mr. Vo Tan Thai to 13 years in prison for the crime of "Violating regulations on management and use of state assets causing loss and waste".

At the trial on the afternoon of January 26, defendant Nguyen Chien Thang (former Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee) said that when he was still Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, the local budget was limited, so he found it difficult to complete the tasks assigned by the Central Government.
Therefore, the provincial leadership advocates mobilizing resources from people and businesses for investment and development, in order to effectively carry out assigned tasks.
" With the spirit of daring to think and dare to do, for the common good, wanting Khanh Hoa to overcome difficulties to become a rich and powerful province of the Central region and the whole country, the whole collective has boldly applied the new policy mechanisms of the Government and applied new real estate models, removed many difficulties to attract capital from the whole society, invested in many projects to increase GDP, budget revenue and create jobs for the people of the province, " said Mr. Thang.
Along with what has been done for Khanh Hoa province, Mr. Thang admitted that during the implementation of the Muong Thanh Vien Trieu project, due to the urgent nature, large tasks and workload, limited capacity, and somewhat incomplete and inconsistent legal policies, "the defendants could not avoid certain shortcomings".
Mr. Thang respectfully hopes that the panel of judges will consider carefully the gains and losses; make a judgment in a legal, humane and lenient manner so that he has the opportunity to soon return to society and his family, to live the rest of his old age with his wife, children and grandchildren.

Nguyen Gia

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