Hanoi (VNA) – Former minister of information and communication Nguyen Bac Son hasfiled his appeal against the life imprisonment sentence for him in the firstinstance trial of the MobiFone’s purchase of 95 percent of shares of theAudio Visual Global JSC (AVG).

At the end of thetrial from December 16-28, 2019, Son was given life in prison for “receiving bribes” and 16 years in prison for “violating regulations on the management and use of public investmentcapital, causing serious consequences”, the combination of which resultin the final sentence of life imprisonment.  

In his appeal,Son asked for clemency and a reduced sentence, presenting many extenuatingcircumstances such as his contributions when working and current ill health. Healso said he had made confession to receiving bribes during investigation and paidback all the money he had received.

Another defendantin the case, MobiFone Deputy General Director NguyenManh Hung also lodged an appeal, saying that his sentence of 2 years and sixmonths in prison is too strict.

Hung said theverdict has not made full assessment of the circumstances and his situation inthe case. According to him, it was not true when saying that he conductedprocedures of the deal despite being aware of the financial situation of AVG.  

The caseinvolved 14 defendants, including two former ministers of information andcommunication, Son and Truong Minh Tuan, who was jailed for 16 years on thesame two charges as Son.

Former Chairman of theMobifone Member Council Le Nam Tra and former Mobifone General Director Cao DuyHai were given 23-year and 14-year imprisonment sentences, respectively, forboth charges.

For nine defendants oncharge of “violating regulations on the management and use of public investmentcapital, causing serious consequences”, the court pronounced that former headof the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC)’s Department ofEnterprise Management Pham Dinh Trong will stay behind bars for five years;Director of the AMAX investment consultancy and valuation company Vo Van Manhthree years and six months; and appraiser Hoang Duy Quang three years.

Member of the MobifoneMember Council Phan Thi Hoa Mai and Hung and three other Mobifone Deputy General Directors Pham Thi Phuong Anh, Ho Tuan and Nguyen Bao Long were sentenced to two years and six months in jail.

 Mobifone Deputy General Director Nguyen DangNguyen got a two-year jail sentence.

 Former Chairman of the AVG Board of DirectorsPham Nhat Vu was given a three-year imprisonment sentence for giving bribes.

In 2015, the MIC-run MobiFone bought 95 percent of AVG for 8.9 trillion VND(382.7 million USD), many times higher than theactual value of the struggling firm. The deal caused a lossof over 6.59 trillion VND (283.3 million USD) to the State./.