Trial delayed for official accused of power abuse
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The appeal hearing of former chairman of HCM City's Hoc Mon District's People's Committee Nguyen Van Khoe along with his accomplices has been postponed for lack of witnesses, the city's court announced this morning.
According to the jury’s chairman, the court will hold another trial after subpoenaing vital witnesses. But they didn’t give the specific time of the new trial.
This is the second time the court has postponed this case after the first delayed appeal hearing last November due to absence of Khoe’s defending counsels.
Earlier, the jury board questioned in turn Khoe along with his five accomplices allegedly involved in this case.
Khoe only admitted two charges of abusing his official capacity to influence others and appropriate property while he denied all accusations of receiving bribes worth VND1.4 billion from Tran Thi Ha, former director of Thanh Phat Company.
He said he just received a bribe of VND400,000 million from Ha, adding he also borrowed another VND1 billion from her to fix his house and gave VND600 million back to her later.
Last August, Thanh Nien reported the HCMC court handed down a 26-year-jail term to the former head of Hoc Mon District for accepting VND1.4-billion (US$71,942) in bribes and abusing power to approve two infrastructure projects.
Khoe was convicted of receiving bribes and a haft a rhino horn worth $10,000 from Tran Thi Ha and her deputy Ha Van Hoa to approve a housing estate and an industrial zone in the district’s Dong Thanh Commune in late 2002 and early 2003.
He also asked them for cash and gifts worth a total of $15,000 and VND780 million ($40,082) to bribe other officials, his subordinates, to secure the approval, despite the fact that Thinh Phat didn’t have the financial capability to build them, the trial heard.
As cited by Thanh Nien, Tran Van Te, former chairman of Dong Thanh People’s Committee, was sentenced to 13 years in prison also for power abuse and receiving bribes.
Duong Minh Trung, former chief of Hoc Mon District Division of Planning and Investment, and Nguyen Van Do, another former official from Dong Thanh Commune, were given seven year imprisonment and three year suspended sentence respectively for abuse of power.
Dang Cong Danh, former director of Danh Khoa Company, meanwhile, received eight years for brokering bribes between Khoe and the husband and wife team of Ha and Hoa.
According to the court, with approval for the two projects, Ha and Hoa also secured loans of 3,000 taels (approximate 3,600 ounces) of gold and VND18 billion from the Cho Lon Branch of the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank).
The scheme was a scam with the bank as the victim, the HCMC People’s Court said, sentencing the married couple to life for “offering bribes” and “committing fraud to appropriate properties.”
Ha and Hoa were ordered to pay back the loans as compensation to Agribank, but as the bank didn’t claim the compensation at the trial, the gold and money would be transferred to the state budget, the court said.
The court also handed down a 12-year jail term to Tran Van Tuyen, former director of the bank’s branch for violating lending regulations.
Tuyen’s subordinate, Luu Thi Minh Hieu, was given 10 years on the same charges, while Nguyen Cong Dinh, a bank employee, was sentenced to seven years in prison for receiving bribes.
Duong Minh Trung, former chief of Hoc Mon District Division of Planning and Investment, and Nguyen Van Do, another former official from Dong Thanh Commune, were given seven year imprisonment and three year suspended sentence respectively for abuse of power.
Dang Cong Danh, former director of Danh Khoa Company, meanwhile, received eight years for brokering bribes between Khoe and the husband and wife team of Ha and Hoa.
According to the court, with approval for the two projects, Ha and Hoa also secured loans of 3,000 taels (approximate 3,600 ounces) of gold and VND18 billion from the Cho Lon Branch of the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank).
The scheme was a scam with the bank as the victim, the HCMC People’s Court said, sentencing the married couple to life for “offering bribes” and “committing fraud to appropriate properties.”
Ha and Hoa were ordered to pay back the loans as compensation to Agribank, but as the bank didn’t claim the compensation at the trial, the gold and money would be transferred to the state budget, the court said.
The court also handed down a 12-year jail term to Tran Van Tuyen, former director of the bank’s branch for violating lending regulations.
Tuyen’s subordinate, Luu Thi Minh Hieu, was given 10 years on the same charges, while Nguyen Cong Dinh, a bank employee, was sentenced to seven years in prison for receiving bribes.
