Hanoi People’s Court opened the first-instance trial on April 17 for Nguyen Thi Loan, former Chairwoman of Vimedimex Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Corporation, and 12 accomplices in a case of violations in the bidding of land-use rights in Dong Anh District, Hanoi.
Defendants at the trial. Photo: ANTĐ
In this case, the Hanoi People’s Procuracy (VKSND) indicted 9 defendants: Nguyen Thi Loan, Nguyen Quang Hung (General Director of Thanh Tri Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Company, Deputy General Director of Vimedimex Pharmaceutical Joint Stock 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 Joint Stock Corporation 2), Nguyen Thi Dieu Linh (General Director of Hanoi Investment Valuation and Consulting Joint Stock Company – abbreviated as VVAI Company), Nguyen Ngoc Thang (Deputy General Director of VVAI Company), Nguyen Duc Phuong (Appraiser of VVAI Company), Tran Cong Tuyen (Head of Infrastructure Exploitation and Clearance Management Department under Dong Anh District Project Management Board, Hanoi), Vuong Thi Thu Thuy (specialist of Dong Anh District Project Management Board) for the crime of “Violating regulations on property auction”.
The two remaining defendants are: Bui Thanh Huyen (former deputy head of the Land Management Sub-department, Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment (TN-MT)) and Nguyen Thi Cam Le (an official of the Hanoi TN-MT Department) were prosecuted by the VKSND for the crime of “Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences”.
At the procedural part before the trial, the审判庭 summoned Le Tuan Dinh (former Deputy Director of the TN-MT Department, now Chairman of the Dong Da District People’s Committee) to the court. However, Mr. Dinh did not attend the trial.
According to the indictment, in 2020, the Dong Anh District Project and Construction Investment Management Board organized the auction of a 49,000 m2 land plot in Co Duong hamlet, Tien Duong commune. Defendant Tran Cong Tuyen asked someone to contact Hanoi Investment Valuation and Consulting Joint Stock Company (VVAI Company) headed by Nguyen Thi Dieu Linh as general director to appraise the land plot. Linh, together with a group of employees, conducted a field survey, received documentation and determined the land plot’s value at about 504 billion VND (equivalent to 31 million VND/m2). However, Mr. Tuyen instructed his subordinate to ask VVAI Company to redo the unit price, adjust and reduce the land plot’s value to 300 billion VND. The appraiser’s staff edited and lowered the land price on the spreadsheet to reduce the land plot’s valuation to about 334 billion VND.
In August 2020, the Hanoi People’s Committee issued a decision to transfer 49,000 m2 of land in Co Duong hamlet to the Dong Anh District People’s Committee to implement the project of building the infrastructure for the land-use right auction area, in which more than 16,000 m2 were auctioned for housing.
During the process of the TN-MT Department approving the starting price, Tuyen and his subordinates requested to “embed” VVAI Company to sign the valuation contract. Due to having adjusted and lowered the land plot’s value as requested by Tuyen, VVAI Company issued a certificate stating the land plot’s value at over 284 billion VND. As a result, the starting price put up for auction was distorted, creating conditions for the companies participating in the auction of Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan to collude to lower prices and win the auction at a low price.
The indictment determined that the defendant Loan used three companies: Bac Tu Liem Housing Development Joint Stock Company, Thanh Tri Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Company, and My Dinh Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Company to participate in the bidding for the above land plot. Defendant Loan agreed with Nguyen Quang Hung, Ta Thi Van, Nguyen Xuan Duc to bid the same amount in each round to draw lots, and whichever company won the bid, the project would still go to the former Vimedimex chairman.
As a result, Bac Tu Liem Housing Development Joint Stock Company won the auction for the land plot at a price of over 326 billion VND. The prosecution concluded that from the issuance of an incorrect valuation certificate, the company that won the land plot benefited over 135 billion VND.
At the trial, defendant Nguyen Thi Loan said that the indictment was incorrect and that she was wronged. In particular, many records in the case file are not consistent with the content that the defendant has stated.
Regarding the participation in the auction, the defendant Nguyen Thi Loan said that she did not instruct the company to bid but only agreed to submit a bid application. The defendant also confirmed that she did not provide the funds for the companies to deposit.
According to the defendant, after being prosecuted, as a 20% shareholder of Bac Tu Liem Company, the former Vimedimex chairman wrote a request to return the land plot to the Dong Anh District People’s Committee. The decision to cancel the auction results stated that “the asset is not true to its real value”, and the defendant thought that as a 20% shareholder, she should return this share.
The defendant argues that the indictment’s accusation that she used 3 companies is incorrect. In addition, the indictment’s claim that the defendant has paid more than 500 billion VND to remedy the consequences of the case is also incorrect.
Also in court, earlier, when answering the审判庭, the defendants Nguyen Quang Hung, former deputy general director of Vimedimex Group; Ta Thi Van, former general director of Bac Tu Liem Real Estate Corporation; and Nguyen Xuan Duc, former deputy general director of My Dinh Real Estate Investment Company, admitted to the criminal acts stated in the indictment. Defendant Nguyen Quang Hung stated that defendant Loan instructed him on authorizing the auction, after which he conveyed it to defendant Van and defendant Duc.
Also at the trial, a representative of Bac Tu Liem Real Estate Company said that it had returned the land plot to the Dong Anh District People’s Committee. Regarding the amount of 392 billion VND paid to the budget, Bac Tu Liem Real Estate Company requested that it be returned to the Company in accordance with legal regulations. “The Company is a related party in this case, and we ask the Court to reconsider, as the Company is a third party and has suffered damages in this case,” the representative said.
