Hanoi (VNA) – The HanoiPeople’s Court will open proceedings in the trial of Dinh La Thang and hisaccomplices accused of wrongdoings at PetroVietnam Construction Joint StockCorporation (PVC) on January 8, 2018.
According to an announcement issued by thecourt on December 27, a five-member bench will judge the case.
Twelve out of 22 defendants in the case havebeen charged with “deliberatly violating State regulations on economicmanagement, causing severe consequences” in line with clause 3 of article 165 ofthe 1999 Penal Code.
They are Dinh La Thang, former Chairman ofthe Member Council of PetroVietnam; Phung Dinh Thuc, former General Director ofPetroVietnam; Nguyen Quoc Khanh, former Deputy General Director ofPetroVietnam; Nguyen Xuan Son, former Deputy General Director of PetroVietnam;Ninh Van Quynh, former chief accountant and former head of the department offinance, accounting and auditing of PetroVietnam; Le Dinh Mau, former deputyhead of the department of accounting and auditing of PetroVietnam; Vu HongChuong, former head of PetroVietnam’s management board for the Thai Binh 2 thermal power plant project; Tran Van Nguyen,former chief accountant of the PetroVietnam’s management board for the ThaiBinh 2 thermal power plant project;Nguyen Ngoc Quy, former Vice Chairman of PVC; Nguyen Manh Tien; former GeneralDirector of PVC; Pham Tien Dat, former chief accountant of PVC; and Truong QuocDung, former General Director of PVC.
Eight others have been charged with“misappropriating property” in accordance with clause 4 of article 278 of the1999 Penal Code.
Meanwhile, Trinh Xuan Thanh, former Chairmanand General Director of PVC, and Vu Duc Thuan, former PVC General Director,have been charged with “deliberatlyviolating State regulations on economic management, causing severeconsequences” and “misappropriating property.”
The Supreme People’s Procuracy of Vietnamannounced the charges on December 26 after investigations into wrongdoings atPetroVietnam and its subsidiary PVC ended.
According to the indictment of the SupremePeople’s Procuracy, this is an extremely serious case involving people holdingkey positions in important economic units and major national projects like ThaiBinh 2 thermal power plant.
The indictment says that Thang was mainlyresponsible for wrongdoings during construction of the Thai Binh 2 thermalpower plant project.
He allegedly instructed PetroVietnam to carryout the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) package. He is also accusedof directing PetroVietnam Power Corporation (PV Power) to illegally sign EPC No.33 with PVC.
Then, based on the illegitimate contracts,Thang went on to direct PetroVietnam to advance over 6.6 million USD and over1.3 trillion VND (57.7 million USD) in breach of regulations, according toprosecutors.
Thang’s alleged actions caused losses ofnearly 120 billion VND (5.3 million USD) to the State coffer.
Meanwhile, Thanh purportedly directed Thuanto sign EPC No. 33 during the construction of the Thai Binh 2 project so PVCcould get advance deposits of over 6.6 million USD and over 1.312 trillion VND(57.7 million USD). He is also accused of using the money illegally, causinglosses to the State budget.
Thanh and Thuan also reportedly directedNguyen Anh Minh, PVC’s former Deputy General Director and Luong Van Hoa, formerDirector of PVC’s Vung Ang-Quang Trach Project Management Board, to draw upfalse documents to withdraw more than 13 billion VND (578,000 USD) from theproject for personal use.
During the investigation, Thanh wasinsincere, evasive and unconvincing. He also fled the country, hindering theinvestigation process, the indictment said.
The Supreme People’s Procuracy authorisedthe Hanoi People’s Procuracy to conduct the trial of the case at the municipalPeople’s Court.-VNA