Hanoi (VNA) – The Hanoi People’s Court opened the first instance trial onJanuary 8 for Trinh Xuan Thanh, former Chairman and General Director ofPetroVietnam Construction Joint Stock Corporation (PVC), and his accomplices onseveral charges of wrongdoings at the company.

Amongthe 22 defendants in the case, 12 were charged with “deliberately violatingState regulations on economic management, causing severe consequences” under Clause3 of Article 165 of the 1999 Penal Code. They included Dinh La Thang (formerChairman of the Member Council of PetroVietnam PVN), Phung Dinh Thuc (formerGeneral Director of PVN), two former Deputy General Directors of PVN – NguyenQuoc Khanh and Nguyen Xuan Son, and two former Deputy General Directors of PVC,among others.

Eight others were accused of “misappropriating property” in accordance withClause 4 of Article 278 of the 1999 Penal Code.

TrinhXuan Thanh and Vu Duc Thuan (former PVC General Director) were charged withboth “deliberately violating State regulations on economic management,causing severe consequences” and “misappropriating property.”

A total of 42 lawyers will defend the legitimate rights and interests for the defendantsat the court.

According to the indictment of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, this is aparticularly serious case drawing public concerns. Most of the defendants heldkey positions in important economic establishments and were entrusted by theState and people for management of State capital and implementation of nationalkey projects, including the Thai Binh 2 thermal power plant.

However, during the process of implementing the projects, the defendantsdeliberately violated the State regulations on economic management, causingserious economic losses to the State. Some even abused their positions andpower to withdraw money from projects for personal use. Such wrongdoings mustbe strictly handled according to law.

Specifically, while carrying out the Thai Binh 2 thermal power project, Dinh LaThang played the main role in giving direction and appointing PVC to implementthe engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, directing thePetroVietnam Power Corporation (PVPower) to sign the No.33 EPC contract withPVC against regulations. Afterwards, Thang directed his subordinates at PVN andthe management board of the project to provide in advance 6,607,500 USD andover 1.3 trillion VND for PVC, allowing Trinh Xuan Thanh and his accomplices touse over 1.1 trillion VND for wrong purposes, causing loss of nearly 120billion VND to the State.

Thoseacts of Thang constitute deliberate violations of State regulations on economicmanagement, causing severe consequences under Clause 3 of Article 165 of the1999 Penal Code, the indictment said.

Regarding Trinh Xuan Thanh, theindictment said during the implementation of the Thai Binh 2 thermal powerproject, Thanh – as PVC Chairman - directed Vu Duc Thuan to sign the EPC No. 33so that PVC could get advance payment of over 6.6 million USD and over 1.3trillion VND (57.7 million USD).

Thanh decided to use more than 1.1 trillion VND (48.4 million USD) out of the advanceto serve other purposes other than channeling the sum into the Thai Binh project,causing losses of 120 billion VND (5.3 million USD) to the State coffer.

Besides Thanh was the person who gave the idea and together with Thuan directedNguyen Anh Minh, then PVC Deputy General Director, and Luong Van Hoa, then Directorof PVC’s Vung Ang - Quang Trach Project Management Board, to compile falsedocuments to withdraw more than 13 billion VND (578,000 USD) from the project anddivide among them for personal use.

Of the money, Thanh got 4 billion VND (176,000 USD). He, together with Thuan,Minh and Bui Manh Hien, then Chief of the Office of PVC, also spent 1.5trillion VND (66,000 USD) together.

The Supreme People’s Procuracy held thatthose acts of Thanh constitute the offences of “deliberately violating Stateregulations on economic management, causing severe consequences” and“misappropriating property.”

The trial is scheduled to last two weeks.-VNA