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The Procuracy proposed sentencing defendant Nguyen Thai Luyen, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Alibaba Company, to life in prison for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".
Defendant Nguyen Thai Luyen, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Alibaba Company. (Photo: Thanh Chung/VNA)
On December 29, after nearly a month of trial and deliberation, the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City began sentencing 23 defendants in the case of "fraudulent appropriation of property" and "money laundering" that occurred at Alibaba Real Estate JSC.
According to the case, Nguyen Thai Luyen established 22 companies under Alibaba, assigned Luyen's family members or confidants to be the legal representatives of the companies, and then organized the purchase of large quantities of agricultural land.
The source of money to buy agricultural land was mobilized from customers by using the legal entity of Alibaba Real Estate JSC and companies in the same system, independently establishing 58 residential projects, illegally dividing plots, providing false information such as these were projects with full legal status, self-naming the projects to call for, deceiving customers into signing contracts to sell land plots as residential land to raise money from customers.
As of the date of initiating the case on September 13, 2019 (more than 3 years since its establishment), Alibaba Company has deployed sales on 58 projects but none of the projects have applied for a license, even just the licensing procedures; no legal entity has fulfilled its financial obligations as prescribed by law. This proves that the defendants have no intention of applying for an investment license in accordance with the provisions of law.
The defendants at the trial on December 29. (Photo: Thanh Chung/VNA)
The Procuracy proposed to sentence defendant Nguyen Thai Luyen to life in prison for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property". Along with this crime, the Procuracy proposed that the Trial Council sentence 19 defendants to a minimum of 12-13 years in prison and a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Defendant Vo Thi Thanh Mai (wife of Nguyen Thai Luyen) was proposed to be sentenced to 20 years in prison for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property", 12-14 years in prison for the crime of "Money laundering", with a total sentence of 30 years in prison; Nguyen Thai Luc (Luyen's younger brother) was proposed to be sentenced to 20 years in prison for fraud, 10-12 years in prison for money laundering, with a total sentence of 30 years in prison. Defendant Huynh Thi Kim Thang was proposed to be sentenced to 5-6 years in prison for the crime of "money laundering".
Regarding civil liability, the Procuracy affirmed that by selling what he did not have and deceiving buyers by setting up a system of companies to conceal his fraudulent behavior, Nguyen Thai Luyen had appropriated a total of more than VND 2,462 billion from 4,550 customers. The Procuracy requested that Luyen and his wife, defendant Vo Thi Thanh Mai, jointly compensate the above amount to the customers.
Regarding the handling of evidence, the Procuracy proposed to maintain the temporary detention of more than VND 9.2 billion in cash discovered during the search and more than VND 45 billion in cash in the accounts of 49 individuals who are employees and legal entities of Alibaba Company, and continue to seize 652 agricultural plots of land... All of these assets are to ensure the defendants' obligation to execute the judgment.
Due to the length of the sentence, the sentencing is expected to end on December 30. The sentencing will be broadcast online on the electronic information channel: https://hochiminhcity.toaan.gov.vn.
According to VNA
