Lawyers propose special leniency for former Ben Tre Secretary Le Duc Tho

On the afternoon of November 25, the trial of the case that occurred at Xuyen Viet Oil Trading, Transport and Tourism Company Limited continued with the defense of the lawyers.

At the trial, the defense attorney for defendant Le Duc Tho, former Secretary of the Ben Tre Provincial Party Committee, said that the sentence of 28-29 years in prison proposed by the People's Procuracy for the two crimes of Receiving bribes and Abusing position and power to influence for personal gain was too high and not appropriate to the nature and severity of the crime.

According to the lawyer, the prosecution of defendant Le Duc Tho is in accordance with the law. However, the defendant only committed one act, but due to the nature of his work in different positions, this act was classified as two crimes, both of which have severe penalties.

The lawyer also argued that in the context of late 2019 and early 2020, when businesses faced economic difficulties, banks proactively approached large customers to support loans. The defendant's recognition of businesses' loan needs does not mean lending or increasing credit limits.

The investigation also showed that defendant Tho did not directly influence the application review process at VietinBank. The approval of the credit limit for Xuyen Viet Oil Company was decided collectively through the Board of Directors and did not cause loss of State assets. The final decision maker for the loan was still the branch director. The lawyer affirmed that the defendant did not pressure VietinBank to skip the loan review process.

While holding the position of Secretary of the Ben Tre Provincial Party Committee, defendant Tho wanted to promote local economic development, actively calling for investment and cooperating with large enterprises, including Xuyen Viet Company.

Regarding the gifts received from Ms. Mai Thi Hong Hanh, Director of Xuyen Viet Oil Company, the lawyer said that these gifts came from personal gratitude for the defendant's advice and support that helped the business achieve profits. However, the line between affection and giving gifts that are considered bribes is very thin.

The lawyer also requested the panel of judges and the prosecutor to acknowledge the defendant Tho’s contributions to VietinBank and Ben Tre province, as well as the defendant and his family’s efforts to remedy the consequences. All of the defendant’s assets have been frozen, but the defendant still called on his family to borrow money to pay compensation.

Based on these arguments, the lawyer requested the panel of judges to consider applying a special leniency policy so that defendant Le Duc Tho has the opportunity to return to his family soon.

On the same morning, in the indictment and proposed sentence, the representative of the People's Procuracy proposed that the People's Court sentence the defendant Le Duc Tho (former Secretary of the Ben Tre Provincial Party Committee) from 15 to 15 years and 6 months in prison for the crime of Receiving bribes and from 13 to 13 years and 6 months in prison for the crime of Abusing position and power to influence others for personal gain. The total sentence is 28 - 29 years in prison. The People's Procuracy also proposed an additional fine of 100 million VND for each crime.

According to the People's Procuracy, defendant Le Duc Tho, while holding the position of General Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietinbank, took advantage of his position to accept bribes and exert influence for personal gain. During the period 2019 - 2021, he received 600,000 USD (13.8 billion VND) from Mai Thi Hong Hanh to approve a credit limit of 5,000 billion VND for Xuyen Viet Oil Company.

In addition, when he was Secretary of Ben Tre Provincial Party Committee in 2021, Mr. Tho influenced the Director of Vietinbank's Ben Tre branch so that Xuyen Viet Oil Company could borrow 400 billion VND with preferential interest rates and a credit ratio of 40%.

Mr. Tho received money and assets from defendant Mai Thi Hong Hanh (Director of Xuyen Viet Oil Company) many times, totaling 22.8 billion VND. In total, Mr. Tho received bribes and took advantage of his position and power to influence others to gain more than 33 billion VND.

According to the People's Procuracy, defendant Tho confessed honestly, repented, actively cooperated with the investigation agency, had many outstanding achievements in work, received many certificates of merit, overcame all consequences of the case, and returned more than 34 billion VND...

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