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| Dinh Ngoc He (front, right) at the court (Source: VNA) |
The jail sentence started from the detention date on December 3, 2017.
Former Director General of Thai Son Corporation Tran Van Lam is undergoing five years behind bars, also charged with “abusing position and power while performing official duties”, which began from his detention date of March 13, 2017.
Phung Danh Tham, former Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Thai Son Corporation, received a two year non-custody sentence for “lack of responsibility causing serious consequences”.
He and Lam were also banned from taking on corporate leadership roles following their jail terms for four and three years, respectively. Tham is also prevented from holding the top tiers of management for any business for two years following the verdict’s effective date.
Defendants in the case were required to compensate over 3.4 billion VND (147,000 USD) to the State budget.
The indictment said during 2011-2016, He used his position – as a representative of Thai Son Corporation’s stake in the Thai Son JSC, as well as Chairman and General Director of the Thai Son JSC – to make inaccurate reports on the Thai Son JSC’s operations, falsely claiming its functions and tasks in order to gain contracts in key national projects.
The man also instructed his subordinates to get military and official number plates for the company’s automobiles, then used them as collateral or for lease in violation of regulations. They pocketed more than 6 billion VND from these acts alone. The military inspectorate stated that the illegal use of the vehicles with military and official number plates violated rules on public automobiles, triggering denouncement from the public and affecting the prestige of the military.
Regarding other accomplices, the military inspectorate said Lam was made General Director of the Thai Son JSC after its name was changed to Thai Son Development and Investment JSC-Defence Ministry. After the market management agency of Binh Duong province detected more than 20,000 litres of sub-standard petrol at Thai Son JSC, Lam, at the instruction of He, signed a document sent to Binh Duong People’s Committee on July 17, 2014, claiming that Thai Son JSC was a military company doing business alongside defence duties in order to ask for an exemption for the fine.
Later, Lam, together with former commander of the Air Defence-Air Force Service’s Division 367 Bui Van Tiep and former Director of Thai Son JSC’s Binh Duong branch Tran Xuan Son, fabricated contracts on petrol deposits and storage, as well as other documents to claim that the sub-standard petrol belonged to Division 367, not for the purpose of sales. This act was said to cause a loss of more than 1.4 billion VND in fines that would have been contributed to the State budget.
Meanwhile, as General Director of the Thai Son Corporation, Tham showed a lax in management responsibility and a lack of supervision and inspection, as he failed to detect the illegal use of vehicles with military and official number plates by He. Tham also did not notice the other illegal acts of He and his accomplices.
The indictment affirmed that although He did not admit to the charges, the military inspectorate found the documents and evidence collected during the investigation process constituted sufficient ground for the charges.
He was also found to have bought a false university score record and degree, using them in his Party membership dossier and for the purpose of a promotion and salary raise.
Also according to the indictment, the defendants voluntarily asked to repair the consequences of their acts, handing over a total of 1.28 billion VND to the Ministry of Defence’s criminal investigation agency. Of the money, He paid back 500 million VND, Xuan Son 500 million VND, Tiep 250 million VND, Tham 20 million VND, and Lam 10 million VND.
