Former Chairman of Binh Thuan Provincial People's Committee Le Tien Phuong was proposed to be sentenced to 6-7 years in prison.

On the morning of January 18, the first-instance trial of former Chairman of Binh Thuan Provincial People's Committee Le Tien Phuong and 16 accomplices moved to the debate stage.

The representative of the Procuracy holding the right to prosecute presented the indictment and proposed sentence for the defendants for the same crime of violating regulations on management and use of State assets causing loss and waste as prescribed in Article 219, Clause 3 - Penal Code.

Defendant Le Tien Phuong, born in 1957, former Chairman of the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province from 2010 - 2015, former Chairman of the Land Valuation Council of Binh Thuan province, was proposed by the representative of the Procuracy to be sentenced to 6 - 7 years in prison by the Trial Council.

Defendant Ho Lam, born in 1960, former Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Binh Thuan province, was proposed to be sentenced to 5-6 years in prison, combined with the previous sentence sentencing defendant Lam to 5 years in prison, forcing defendant Lam to serve the combined sentence of the two sentences.

The two defendants Nguyen Van Phong (born in 1967, former Deputy Director of the Department of Finance of Binh Thuan province - Standing member of the Land Valuation Council of Binh Thuan province, former Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province) and Xa Duong Thang (born in 1966, former Director of the Department of Construction of Binh Thuan province, former Secretary of the Bac Binh District Party Committee, Binh Thuan province) were both proposed to be sentenced to 4 - 5 years in prison.

Nguyen Xuan Phong (born in 1957, former Deputy Director of the Tax Department of Binh Thuan province) was proposed to be sentenced to 3 - 4 years in prison, Nguyen Ngoc (born in 1958, former Permanent Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province) to 36 - 42 months in prison, and Do Ngoc Diep (born in 1962, former Chairman of the People's Committee of Phan Thiet city, Binh Thuan province) to 30 - 36 months in prison.

5 defendants: Le Nguyen Thanh Danh (born in 1980, former Deputy Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Binh Thuan province), Nguyen Thanh Cho (born in 1973, former Head of the Department of Land Management, Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Binh Thuan province), Le Nam Hung (born in 1980, former Deputy Head of the Department of Land Management, Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Binh Thuan province), Pham Duy Cuong (born in 1974, former Deputy Head of the Department of Land Economics, Department of Land Management of Binh Thuan province), Nguyen Van Tho (born in 1961, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Southern Information and Valuation Joint Stock Company) were all proposed to be sentenced to 24 - 30 months in prison.

Le Nguyen Thanh Danh was proposed to have his sentence combined with the 42-month prison sentence previously imposed, while Le Quang Vinh (born in 1973, former Deputy Chief of Office of the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province, former Secretary of the District Party Committee and Chairman of the People's Committee of Phu Quy district, Binh Thuan province) was proposed to have a sentence of 24-30 months in prison but given a suspended sentence.

The remaining 4 defendants, including Le Anh Huy (born in 1977, former specialist of the Land Economics Department, Binh Thuan Provincial Land Management Department, former Head of the General Administration Department, Binh Thuan Provincial Land Management Department), Huynh Luong Thien (born in 1980, specialist of the Investment and Construction Planning Department, Binh Thuan Provincial People's Committee Office), Truong Van Ri (born in 1959, former Deputy General Director of Southern Information and Valuation Joint Stock Company (SIVC) and Director of SIVC's Branch in Binh Thuan), Ho Nhu Hai (born in 1973, former Deputy Director of Southern Information and Valuation Joint Stock Company - Binh Thuan Branch, price appraiser) were all recommended to be sentenced to 18 - 24 months in prison but given a suspended sentence.

The indictment clearly stated that the defendants' criminal acts were dangerous to society and directly violated the management and use of state assets protected by law.

Specifically in this case is the approval of financial obligations to change the land use purpose for 363,523.6 m² of land in Phu Thuy ward, Phan Thiet city, Binh Thuan province from land for construction of sports facilities to urban residential land.

In this case, the defendants are all people with qualifications and positions, who should have been pioneers, well-versed in and abiding by the law, but did not comply with legal regulations, causing a loss of more than 308 billion VND to the State budget.

This is an exceptionally large amount of damage. The defendants’ criminal acts have affected the local economic development, reduced the prestige of the Party and the State, caused negative public opinion and lost the people’s trust.

Therefore, bringing the case to trial for the defendants reflects the direction of the General Secretary, Head of the Central Steering Committee on preventing corruption, waste and negativity with the motto "non-stop, non-stop, no forbidden zones, no exceptions, no matter who the person is; handling one case is a warning to the whole region, the whole field."

However, the representative of the Procuracy also considered the context, causes and conditions of the crime. At the time of the case, from 2014-2015, Binh Thuan was a poor province, people's lives were still difficult, so the policy of attracting investors to develop the economy was the right policy supported by the people, including the investor, Rang Dong Joint Stock Company.

The major source of revenue for the economic development of the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province at that time was revenue from the performance of financial obligations on land, accounting for an important part of the total budget revenue in the province.

The Provincial People's Committee regularly directs departments and branches to implement solutions to increase State budget revenue. In that context, it has partly created pressure on leaders and officials of State management agencies in the province in general and the defendants in this case in particular.

On the other hand, the Phan Thiet Urban Tourism Area Project is the largest project in 2015 in Binh Thuan province. The construction and land price appraisal process had to be redone many times. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment has developed a land price plan 4 times. On that basis, the Appraisal Council has also held appraisal meetings 4 times to review and make adjustments.

This shows that the defendants were also somewhat cautious and confused in applying the land price calculation method.

During the investigation as well as at the trial, the defendants all confessed that they had no personal motives or goals in carrying out their duties, but only wanted to complete their tasks soon and generate revenue for the locality as well as create a highlight for city tourism, contributing to the development of the local socio-economy.

However, although the Conclusion of the Standing Committee of Binh Thuan Provincial Party Committee noted 3 contents including clearly defining the project implementation time to calculate the number of years discounted according to the surplus method in accordance with the provisions of law, ensuring harmony between the interests of the State, the social community and investors, the Southern Valuation Company still maintained the method and results of determining land prices contrary to the provisions of law and the defendants still agreed to use it to build, appraise and approve land price plans, causing damage to the State of more than 308 billion VND.

The prosecutor assessed that among the defendants, defendant Le Tien Phuong, in his role as Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and Chairman of the Land Valuation Council, directed the entire implementation of the Phan Thiet Coastal Urban Tourism Area Project, clearly knew the detailed planning project and land use structure in the Phan Thiet Coastal Urban Tourism Area; was fully reported by the Land Valuation Council on the implementation process, the appraisal results of the land valuation consultancy results of SIVC Company and the draft land price plan of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. The defendant directly participated in the meeting and knew the conclusion of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee on separating high-rise land to calculate land prices.

However, defendant Le Tien Phuong still agreed with the results of land price consultation and land price plan developed by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, in which the comparable assets were not qualified and were not based on the approved detailed planning as the basis for calculating and calculating the price of high-rise buildings using the same method and method as for villas and townhouses.

At the same time, the defendant signed and issued Decision No. 3371/QD-UBND dated November 25, 2015, approving the land price at the Phan Thiet Urban Area Project at VND 2,577,000/m², contrary to the law and the direction of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee.

Therefore, the Procuracy determined that defendant Le Tien Phuong was the main player in the case and must receive the highest sentence compared to the other defendants.

After the representative of the Procuracy presented the indictment and proposed sentence for the defendants, the lawyers and defendants presented many arguments, evidence, and analyzed related circumstances to mitigate the level and consequences of the defendants' violations.