Former VEC General Director proposed maximum sentence of 7 years in prison

After 4 days of questioning, on the evening of October 19, at the trial of 22 defendants in the Da Nang-Quang Ngai Expressway case, phase 2, the representative of the Procuracy holding the right to prosecute at the trial presented the indictment and proposed sentences for the defendants.

The representative of the Procuracy proposed not to require the contractors to compensate for the damage of 460 billion VND of the case, but the defendants themselves must be jointly responsible for compensation.

Accordingly, the representative of the Procuracy proposed that the Trial Council sentence former General Director of Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) Tran Van Tam from 3 years to 4 years in prison for the crime of "Violating regulations on investment in construction works causing serious consequences," from 2 years and 6 months to 3 years in prison for the crime of "Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences." The total sentence is from 5 years and 6 months to 7 years in prison.

Former Chairman of the Board of Members and former General Director of VEC Mai Tuan Anh was proposed to be sentenced to 36 months in prison but given a suspended sentence for the crime of "Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences."

The remaining defendants were recommended to be sentenced from 2 years in prison but given suspended sentences to 7 years and 6 months in prison.

It is noteworthy that although previously, representatives of VEC and contractors had the opinion of not forcing the defendants to pay compensation, the representative of the Procuracy still proposed forcing the defendants to pay compensation in this case.

The prosecutor requested the Trial Council to force the defendants to jointly compensate for damages in 5 bidding packages, with a total value of 460 billion VND, identified as damages in the case.

Regarding other civil economic relations, the defendants have the obligation to compensate and have the right to request individuals and legal entities involved in causing damage to reimburse the amount of compensation paid in accordance with the provisions of law. If there is a dispute, the parties have the right to request that it be resolved in another civil case.

The indictment of the Procuracy assessed that, throughout the project implementation process, from the General Director to the Deputy General Directors of VEC, "laxed in directing, operating, and managing the project's construction, did not perform, or did not fully perform, the work of inspecting and controlling the quality of construction works," leading to the construction and acceptance of packages that did not meet technical standards and design requirements; the quality of completed construction works was not guaranteed.

In particular, in May 2016, after inspecting the actual project, the Ministry of Transport sent a document requesting VEC to strengthen the quality inspection of all types of source materials used for the project, but this request was not seriously implemented by the two defendants, former General Directors of VEC Mai Tuan Anh and Tran Van Tam.

On October 20, the trial continued with the debate of the lawyers and defendants on the prosecution's accusation.