In January 2023, the People’s Procuracy of Hanoi completed the indictment of former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vimedimex Pharmaceutical Corporation, Nguyen Thi Loan, for violating regulations on asset auction activities.
Regarding the irregularities in the auction process of the land use rights in the southeast area of Co Duong village, Tien Duong commune, Dong Anh district, 8 other individuals were also indicted for the same offense.
The defendants include: Nguyen Quang Hung (Deputy General Director of Thanh Tri Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Company; Deputy General Director of Vimedimex Pharmaceutical Corporation), Ta Thi Van (General Director of Bac Tu Liem Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Company), Nguyen Xuan Duc (Deputy General Director of My Dinh Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Company; General Director of Vimedimex Pharmaceutical Corporation 2), Nguyen Thi Dieu Linh (General Director of Hanoi Investment Appraisal and Investment Company), Nguyen Ngoc Thang (Deputy General Director of Hanoi Investment Appraisal and Investment Company), Nguyen Duc Phuong (Appraiser at Hanoi Investment Appraisal and Investment Company), Tran Cong Tuyen (Head of Infrastructure Management and Clearance Department under the Dong Anh Project Management Board, Hanoi), Vuong Thi Thu Thuy (specialist at the District Dong Anh Project Management Board).
Nguyen Thi Loan. Photo: Vietpharm Website.
After the People’s Procuracy of Hanoi transferred the case files to the same-level People’s Court for trial, the court returned the file and requested further investigation of some related individuals in the case.
After the additional investigation, the investigation agency initiated the prosecution of 2 more defendants: Bui Thanh Huyen (Deputy Head of the Land Management Sub-Department, Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment) and Nguyen Thi Cam Le (official at the Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment). The People’s Procuracy of Hanoi indicted these two defendants for the offense of “Serious misconduct causing grave consequences.”
According to the indictment, in the process of determining the base auction price for the land in the southeast area of Co Duong village, the defendants Nguyen Dieu Linh, Nguyen Ngoc Thang, Nguyen Duc Phuong acted as appraisers with the function and task of appraising the price in accordance with the law.
However, the defendants did not objectively appraise the land, but appraised it according to the proposal of the defendant Tran Cong Tuyen and Vuong Thi Thu Thuy regarding intentionally reducing the value of the land in order to issue an appraisal certificate that did not reflect the actual value.
This enabled companies participating in the auction by Nguyen Thi Loan to collude in suppressing prices and win the auction at a lower value, causing damages to the state budget of over VND 135 billion.
The indictment stated that Huyen and Le were negligent in the process of inspecting and appraising the appraisal certificates of the consulting company, failing to detect surveys conducted since August 2020, before being selected as the appraisal consulting unit in September 2020.
These two defendants also approved the documents in the appraisal certificate and the appraisal result of VVAI Company at the price of VND 17,600,000/m2, leading to the valuation council of the city determining a starting price much lower than the actual value.
This facilitated Loan’s use of companies participating in her auctions to collude in suppressing prices and win the auction at a value lower than the market price, causing damages to the state budget of over VND 135 billion.
According to the prosecution, in the bidding process for the land in the southeast area of Co Duong village, Nguyen Thi Loan used the legal entities of 3 companies that she operated to participate in the auction, coordinating with other defendants in quoting the same amount in the rounds to be drawn, and the project still belonged to Loan regardless of which company won the auction.
As for Vu Xuan Tung (Head of the Land Management Sub-Department, Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment), the indictment stated that Tung knew that the consulting companies signing contracts with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment deducted 35% of the contract value for the Land Management Sub-Department.
However, Tung did not rectify or prevent this, but agreed to allow officials to receive the amount for general purposes of the sub-department.
The investigation did not find any documents or evidence proving that Tung instructed the employees to request the appraisal consulting units to deduct 35%. There were also no documents or evidence confirming that Tung discussed and coordinated with the appraisal company and individuals or other units to reduce the value of the land plot. Therefore, the investigation agency did not have a basis for handling Tung in this case.
Regarding Le Tuan Dinh (former Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment, currently Chairman of the People’s Committee of Dong Da District, Hanoi), who signed the document sent to the valuation council to convene the council to consider the price plan based on the document and the result of inspecting the appraisal certificates.
The People’s Procuracy of Hanoi stated that in the inspection process, there was no evidence to determine whether Dinh, the consulting company, or individuals involved in the auction had deliberately lowered the starting price, and they did not know that the survey form by VVAI Company was fabricated. Therefore, the investigation agency also did not have a basis to prosecute Dinh in this case.
T.Nhung
