Proposal to reject appeal for reduced sentence of former Minister Nguyen Thanh Long

On the afternoon of May 16, after two days of trial, the representative of the Procuracy requested the appellate court to reject all appeals for reduced sentences of former Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, General Director of Viet A Company Phan Quoc Viet and many defendants in the case related to Viet A Technology Joint Stock Company.

Proposal to reject the appeal of former Minister Nguyen Thanh Long and 10 other defendants

The Procuracy believes that the court of first instance has considered, evaluated and applied all aggravating circumstances to the defendants in accordance with regulations.

At the appeal level, after reviewing and evaluating the evidence and documents provided by the defendants, the Procuracy affirmed that there was no basis to consider an appeal against all 11 defendants.

According to the Procuracy, defendant Phan Quoc Viet was determined to be the mastermind, managing all activities of Viet A. Taking advantage of the country's epidemic situation to make profits, causing extremely large losses. Currently, the defendant must compensate for the consequences of more than 600 billion VND, while only recovering an additional 200 million VND at the appeal hearing.

"The amount of money the defendant has to pay is "insignificant" compared to the consequences caused, so there is no basis for considering an appeal," the prosecutor stated.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Long was found guilty of accepting bribes many times with a large amount of money (2.25 million USD, this amount has been fully recovered since the first instance trial).

At the appeal court, the defendant presented a receipt for paying the full court fee of 100 million VND and a general settlement of the consequences of the case of 1 billion VND.

However, the Procuracy argued that the 18-year prison sentence imposed by the court of first instance was lower than the penalty for bribery. Therefore, there was no basis for mitigating the sentence.

Proposal not to accept the proposal of the mother and wife of the general director of Viet A

In this case, in addition to the 11 defendants, Phan Quoc Viet's wife filed an appeal requesting to cancel the seizure of 2 savings books worth 20 billion VND in the name of their common child. Viet's biological mother also appealed to cancel the seizure of 52 savings books or cards in her name with a total of 412 billion VND.

The representative of the Procuracy assessed that the above amount of money was transferred by Viet to his mother and wife in 2021, after the time of committing the crime.

Documents, evidence and testimonies collected show that this money originated from the sale of COVID-19 test kits, the illegal profits gained from the act of inflating the price of test kits by Viet and his accomplices.

Based on the above grounds, the prosecutor proposed to reject the appeals of both the mother and wife of defendant Phan Quoc Viet, and proposed to continue to freeze the savings books to ensure the obligation to execute the judgment.

Regarding the appeal of Viet A Company, the appellate court requested that it resolve many issues related to its assets and bank accounts, including requiring 80 units to pay a debt of about 1,200 billion VND from purchasing Viet A test kits but have not paid yet.

The representative of the Procuracy determined that the purchase and debt between Viet A Company and its partners were not within the scope of the appeal court, so there was no basis to accept the appeal.

Viet A Company has the right to negotiate with partners on debt repayment. If no agreement is reached, it will file a lawsuit in court.

The only person the Procuracy proposed to accept the appeal was Ms. Nguyen Kieu Oanh (wife of defendant Trinh Thanh Hung - Deputy Director of the Ministry of Science and Technology).

The Procuracy proposed that Ms. Oanh accept the appeal and cancel the blockade of 8 savings books worth more than 3 billion VND. Defendant Trinh Thanh Hung has completed his obligation to remedy 100% of the consequences (a total of more than 8 billion VND).