Dinh La Thang, former Minister of Transport, (centre) and Nguyen Hong Truong, former Deputy Minister of Transport, (second, left) are among 20 people involved in bidding and accounting fraud in the HCM City-Trung Luong Expressway project. HCM City (VNA) – The People’s Court of HoChi Minh City on December 14 opened a first-instance trial over bidding andaccounting fraud in the HCM City-Trung Luong Expressway project, a major tollroad in southern Vietnam.
The case involves 20 defendants, including Dinh La Thang,who served as Minister of Transport between August 2011 and February 2016; andNguyen Hong Truong who was Deputy Minister of Transport from April 2007 toAugust 2017.
Both Thang and Truong are accused of “violatingregulations on the management and use of State assets, causing waste andlosses,” under Article 219 of the 2015 Penal Code.
Also prosecuted for the same charge are Nguyen Chi Thanh,former deputy head of the Ministry of Transport’s Finance Department; Le TrungCuong, a staff member of the Finance Department; and senior executives of theproject’s investor Cuu Long Group – former Director-General Duong Tuan Minh,former Deputy Director-General Duong Thi Tram Anh and former head of theinvestment and bidding management department Nguyen Thu Trang.
Dinh Ngoc He, alias Ut Troc, former DeputyDirector-General of Thai Son Corporation under the Ministry of NationalDefence, is charged of “fraud, appropriation of assets” and “abuse of positionand power to influence others for personal gain.”
The other 12 defendants are charged with “fraud,appropriation of assets”.
The trial is slated to end on December 25.
According to the indictment of the Supreme People’sProcuracy, the HCM City-Trung Luong Expressway project was funded by the Statebudget, so the toll collection right belongs to the State and the money earnedfrom the sale of the right is the State’s asset.
In his capacity as transport minister, Thang createdconditions for Ngoc He’s company to win the bidding for the expressway tollcollection right although Thang was aware that that the company was operatingat a loss and had no financial capacity.
Ngoc He used falsified documents for the bidding, andafter winning it, he continued to commit fraudulent acts aiming to appropriateState assets.
Other defendants who were subordinates of Thang violatedregulations on bidding to let He win the bidding. Their acts created the conditionsfor He to appropriate tolls worth more than 725 billion VND.
The construction of the 62km-long HCM City-Trung Luongexpressway started in 2004 and opened in 2010./.
VNA
