Two former directors of the Vehicle Registration Department were sentenced to 19 and 25 years in prison.

On the afternoon of August 23, the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City continued to evaluate the behavior of two former directors of the Vietnam Register, Dang Viet Ha and Tran Ky Hinh, and 252 defendants on 11 charges related to violations in registration activities.

According to the Trial Council, this is a nationwide case, systematic from the highest leadership level to local departments and inspection centers, causing serious consequences for management activities in the field of inspection, affecting the State's legal policies, and causing loss of people's trust.

The defendants' acceptance of bribes and ignoring traffic violations led to the possibility of causing accidents, affecting the health and lives of people participating in traffic. "The defendants were trained in professional vehicle inspection, knew that the violations could cause serious consequences but still committed them, showing disregard for discipline and the law, so they need to be severely punished," the verdict stated.

Regarding punishment, the court believes that there should be a strict division of responsibilities for the person in charge of the case, and consideration should be given to reducing the sentences for subordinate defendants, salaried workers, those who did not benefit, and were not fully aware of their actions...

The court also applied many aggravating and mitigating circumstances to each defendant, thereby sentencing former director Tran Ky Hinh to 19 years in prison for the crime.Take bribes; 6 years in prison for the crimeAbuse of position and power while performing official duties; total sentence of 25 years in prison.

Mr. Dang Viet Ha (Mr. Hinh's successor) received 19 years in prison for the crime.Take bribesFormer deputy director Nguyen Vu Hai received 4 years in prison for the crime.Abuse of position and power while performing official duties.

Tran Anh Quan, former head of the Vehicle Inspection Department (VAR), was sentenced to 14 years in prison forTake bribes.

Western vehicle inspection boss - defendant Tran Lap Nghia (owner of 5 vehicle inspection centers) was sentenced to 13 years in prison for the crimeTake bribes; 12 years in prison for the crimeFraud at work; 5 years in prison for the crimeIllegal intrusion into another person's computer network, telecommunications network or electronic means. In total, the defendant must serve 30 years in prison.

For nearly 250 other defendants, the court sentenced them to between one year and 30 years in prison, of which 68 received suspended sentences.

Regarding civil liability, the court ordered the confiscation of more than 86 billion VND of illegal profits paid by the defendants and related persons; forced these people to continue paying the remaining amount, of which defendant Hinh must pay an additional 4 billion VND, Tran Lap Nghia must pay an additional 13 billion VND...

Previously, in the announcement of the verdict this morning, the Trial Council determined that from 2014 to 2022, at the inspection centers, the Vietnam Register and specialized departments, a series of violations of the law occurred, including:Giving and Receiving Bribes; Bribery Brokerage; Embezzlement of Property; Abuse of Power and Position... focusing mainly on the period 2019 to October 2022.

"The defendants took advantage of their management functions and assigned tasks to directly or indirectly accept bribes to ignore violations and issue vehicle inspection certificates... A series of other crimes committed by the defendants were also aimed at legitimizing the acceptance of bribes," the verdict stated.

Assessing the role of the defendants in the case, the court determined that Mr. Tran Ky Hinh, as the director, did not perform his assigned duties and responsibilities, loosened management, and lacked inspection and supervision, allowing the Departments under the Department of Registration, Registration Centers, and Registration Sub-Departments nationwide to commit systematic violations and negativity over a long period of time, causing serious consequences.

Defendant Hinh, for personal gain, received bribes of more than 7 billion VND (including more than 23,000 USD) from many businesses and inspection units, ignoring violations in granting licenses to operate Inspection Centers and violations in the vehicle inspection process.

Mr. Hinh also took advantage of his position and authority to violate regulations, approving the granting of full capacity to 63 unqualified facilities, creating conditions for shipbuilding facilities to operate illegally, affecting the normal operations of the Inspection Sub-Departments and the Vietnam Register.

Having committed similar violations, Mr. Dang Viet Ha was also determined by the court to have committed personal gain. When the violations were discovered, the defendant continued to make policies and direct officers of the Motor Vehicle Inspection Department and the Registration Centers to accept bribes. Specifically, Mr. Ha received bribes from the V-block registration centers, the VAR Department and a number of D-block registration centers totaling nearly 8.4 billion VND.

However, Mr. Ha must bear criminal responsibility for the total amount of bribes received at the Department and a number of inspection centers of more than 40 billion VND. Of which, the Motor Vehicle Inspection Department (from August 2021 to September 2022) is more than 31 billion VND; 4 inspection centers (Block V, under the Department, in Ho Chi Minh City from April 1 to November 2022) is more than 7.6 billion VND; 5 inspection centers of Block V in Hanoi received 780 million VND and the bribes from the directors of the Inspection Centers of Block D are 680 million VND.

The court acknowledged that Mr. Ha had confessed honestly, repented, recovered his illegal profits, and had many outstanding achievements in his work...

The defendants, who are in the leadership and staff of the Vehicle Inspection Department (VAR) - which is responsible for evaluating vehicle modification design documents - are accused of a series of violations by 22 individuals, including the head, deputy head and staff of this specialized department. Among them, Tran Anh Quan (acting head of VAR) is the most powerful figure.

Defendant Quan benefited 11.5 billion VND and 9,500 USD but must be responsible for the total amount of bribes that the inspectors of the VAR department received, more than 60 billion VND.