Prosecution of Vice Chairman of Vinh Phuc Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Khuoc and 5 other defendants

The Investigation Police Agency of the Ministry of Public Security (Economic Police Department) is investigating the case of "Violating accounting regulations causing serious consequences; Receiving bribes; Violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences and Taking advantage of influence over people with positions and powers for personal gain", occurring at Phuc Son Group Joint Stock Company, Thang Long Investment, Trade and Real Estate Joint Stock Company, Quang Ngai province, Vinh Phuc province and related units and localities according to Decision on initiating criminal proceedings No. 16/QD-CSKT-P7 dated February 26, 2024 and Decisions supplementing the Decision on initiating criminal proceedings No. 591, 592/QD-CSKT-P7 dated March 7, 2024 and No. 983/QDCSKT-P7 dated April 20, 2024.

Expanding the investigation of the case, the Investigation Police Agency of the Ministry of Public Security determined: During the process of Thang Long Real Estate Company of Nguyen Van Hau implementing the Vinh Tuong Wholesale Market and Urban Area Project, Vinh Phuc province, Nguyen Van Hau directly met many times, gave money and asked for favorable conditions to calculate land use fees for Thang Long Real Estate Company. Mr. Nguyen Van Khuoc (Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Chairman of the Land Valuation Council of Vinh Phuc province); Chu Quoc Hai (former Deputy Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment) and Hoang Van Nhiem (Deputy Director of the Department of Finance) in the course of performing their duties received money from Nguyen Van Hau to direct Ms. Dinh Thi Thu Huong (Head of the Land Price Compensation and Resettlement Division, Department of Land Management, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, member of the Working Group for the Land Price Appraisal Council), through Mr. Cao Dai Nghia (Deputy Head of the Price Division, Department of Planning and Land Resources Development, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) and Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Huy (Director of Nam Ha Appraisal Company) to consult and appraise land prices to create favorable conditions for Nguyen Van Hau's Thang Long Real Estate Company, causing damage to state assets of 200.9 billion VND.

Based on the above investigation results, on April 20, 2024 and April 23, 2024, the Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency issued a Decision to prosecute the accused, an Arrest Warrant for temporary detention, and a Search Warrant against: Nguyen Van Khuoc; Chu Quoc Hai and Hoang Van Nhiem for the crime of "Receiving bribes" as prescribed in Clause 4, Article 354 of the Penal Code.

The Investigation Police Agency of the Ministry of Public Security prosecuted the accused, issued an arrest warrant for temporary detention, and a search warrant for: Cao Dai Nghia for the crime of "Abusing position and power while performing official duties" as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 356 of the Penal Code; prosecuted the accused, issued an order prohibiting them from leaving their place of residence, and a search warrant for: Dinh Thi Thu Huong and Nguyen Ngoc Huy for the crime of "Abusing position and power while performing official duties" as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 356 of the Penal Code.

On April 22, 2024 and April 23, 2024, after the Supreme People's Procuracy (Department 3) approved the above Decisions and Orders, the Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency organized the implementation in accordance with legal provisions.

Regarding this case, on March 27, the Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency (C03) prosecuted and temporarily detained: Le Viet Chu, former Vice Chairman, former Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, former Secretary of the Quang Ngai Provincial Party Committee and Pham Hoang Anh, Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, former Director of the Department of Construction of Vinh Phuc province, both for the crime of "Receiving bribes", stipulated in Clause 4, Article 354 of the Penal Code.

The Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency determined that: During the performance of his duties, defendant Le Viet Chu received money from Nguyen Van Hau to facilitate Phuc Son Group Joint Stock Company to win the bid for the "Construction of the main route of the Tra Khuc River South Bank Road Project, Quang Ngai Province"; defendant Pham Hoang Anh received money from Nguyen Van Hau to facilitate Nguyen Van Hau's enterprise to implement the Vinh Tuong Wholesale Market project, Vinh Phuc.

Previously, in relation to the Phuc Son Group case, the Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency issued a decision to prosecute 15 defendants, including: former Secretary of the Vinh Phuc Provincial Party Committee Hoang Thi Thuy Lan; Chairman of the Vinh Phuc Provincial People's Committee Le Duy Thanh; Chairman of the Quang Ngai Provincial People's Committee Dang Van Minh and former Chairman of the Quang Ngai Provincial People's Committee Cao Khoa. In addition, defendant Dang Trung Hoanh (Chief of the Mang Thit District Party Committee Office, Vinh Long Province) was prosecuted and temporarily detained for the crime of "Taking advantage of influence over people with positions and powers for personal gain".

At a recent press conference of the Ministry of Public Security, the leader of the Department of Investigation of Economic Crimes, Corruption, and Smuggling (Department C03) said that the case related to Chairman of Phuc Son Group Nguyen Van Hau (also known as Hau "Phao") was prosecuted since February 26. This is a major case that occurred in many localities. Phuc Son Group invested in 21 projects, and so far, the investigation agency has clarified violations related to projects in Vinh Phuc and Quang Ngai provinces. Through the statements of some related defendants, it is shown that Nguyen Van Hau has acted to control, monopolize, and pressure some defendants who were former provincial leaders, even the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee... for personal gain. Nguyen Van Hau relied on his close relationships with people holding positions in the locality to control the local government.

Regarding the act of accepting bribes, the investigation results determined that the two defendants Hoang Thi Thuy Lan and Le Duy Thanh received a relatively large amount of money, billions of dong. In addition, defendant Dang Trung Hoanh (Chief of Office of Mang Thit District Party Committee, Vinh Long Province) received up to 64 billion dong from the Chairman of Phuc Son Group.