Appeal trial for ex-Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang resumes
The High-Level People’s Court in Hanoi on January 21 reopened an appeal trial for the case that occurred at the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Saigon Beer - Alcohol - Beverage JSC (Sabeco) and Ho Chi Minh City, causing a loss of over 2.7 trillion VND (119.25 million USD) for the State, despite the absence of defendant ex-Minister of MoIT Vu Huy Hoang.
Defendant ex-Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang in a trial. (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – The High-Level People’sCourt in Hanoi on January 21 reopened an appeal trial for the case that occurredat the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Saigon Beer - Alcohol - BeverageJSC (Sabeco) and Ho Chi Minh City, causing a loss of over 2.7 trillion VND (119.25million USD) for the State, despite the absence of defendant ex-Minister of MoIT Vu HuyHoang.
Hoang and three other defendants appealed against thefirst-instance sentences, asking for reduced punishment. The other three are Phan ChiDung, former Director of the Light Industry Department at the MoIT; Lam NguyenKhoi, former Deputy Director of the HCM City Department of Planning andInvestment; and Le Quang Minh, former head of the HCM City Department ofPlanning and Investment’s Infrastructure Development Division.
The trial was suspended late December 2021 due to theabsence of Hoang and Minh who were under medical quarantine, along with theabsence of representatives from Sabeco and some lawyers.
As Hoang and Sabeco continued to submit anapplication for a trial in absentia, representatives from the High-Level People's Procuracy in Hanoi and lawyers asked that the trial proceeds as planned because theirabsence would not affect the trial.
Earlier, at the instance trial, the Hanoi People’s Courtsentenced Hoang to 11 years’ imprisonment and Dung to nine years in prison for“violating regulations on the management and use of State assets, causinglosses and wastefulness”.
Khoi got a jail term four and a half years, while Minhreceived a prison sentence of three and a half years for “violating regulationson land management.”
The appeal trial is held despite the absence of defendant ex-Minister of MoIT Vu Huy Hoang. (Photo: VNA)
According to the indictment from the Supreme People’sProcuracy, the Saigon Beer - Alcohol - Beverage JSC (Sabeco), which is underthe MoIT’s management, was given more than 6,000 sq.m of land at the No. 2-4-6on Hai Ba Trung street in downtown HCM City for production and businesspurposes.
However, Hoang, Dung, and former Deputy Minister ofthe MoIT Ho Thi Kim Thoa, who has fled, directed subordinates at the ministryand Sabeco to carry out procedures for using land use rights and Sabeco's moneyas capital contributions to set up Sabeco Pearl, a joint venture between Sabeco and a number of private enterprises, to implement a project building ahotel, a trade and convention centre, and office space for lease on the land plot.
After Sabeco completed legal procedures for the jointventure’s investment and proposed the HCM City People’s Committee approve theaddition of officetel and housing functions to this project, the MoIT orderedthe company to divest its entire stake in this project.
This was illegal and resulted in the loss of over 2.7trillion VND to the State./.
The People’s Court of Hanoi on December 27 opened an appeal trial for former Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang and several other defendants in a case which occurred in the ministry, Saigon Beer - Alcohol - Beverage JSC (Sabeco) and Ho Chi Minh City, causing a loss of over 2.7 trillion VND (118.2 million USD) for the State.
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Defendant ex-Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang in a trial. (Photo: VNA) 
The appeal trial is held despite the absence of defendant ex-Minister of MoIT Vu Huy Hoang. (Photo: VNA) 
