On April 17th, a reporter from the People’s Labor Newspaper visited the section of road that Thuan An Construction and Investment Joint Stock Company (Thuan An Corporation) had been awarded to construct as part of the Ho Chi Minh Roadway East of Buon Ma Thuot City Diversion.
Progress Halted
Thuan An Corporation is the company that the Department of Investigation Police on Crimes of Corruption, Economics, and Smuggling (C03 – Ministry of Public Security) has requested that the People’s Committee of Daklak Province provide all documents associated with the contract they completed in that area. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of this corporation, Mr. Nguyen Duy Hung, and many collaborators have recently been charged and temporarily detained in the case “Violating regulations on Bidding, Causing Serious Consequences”, “Offering Bribes”, and “Accepting Bribes”.
The Ho Chi Minh Roadway East of Buon Ma Thuot City Diversion is nearly 40 km long, with the Daklak Provincial Department of Investment Project Management, Transportation Construction, and Rural and Agricultural Development (Department of Project Management) acting as investor. After adjustment, the total investment value is over 1,800 billion VND. In August 2021, the Department of Project Management signed a package contract No. 3 for a consortium of 4 contractors with a total package value of over 520 billion VND. Among them, Thuan An Corporation signed a contract worth over 105 billion VND to construct a 5.2 km section.
Upon observation, no construction activity was taking place on the 5.2 km stretch of road. The entire section has been paved with asphalt, except for approximately 350 meters on one side of the intersection with the Khanh Hoa – Buon Ma Thuot Expressway. The management of Hoai An Co., Ltd. (based in Daklak) announced that their company had signed an agreement with Thuan An Corporation to pave the entire 5.2 km road surface. “We are paving this for Thuan An Corporation at a cost of 20 billion VND. Currently, there is a remaining 350 meters that has not been paved because they still owe us 2 billion VND. Thuan An Corporation promised to send the rest of the money, and once they do, we will complete the paving,” informed the company representative.
According to our findings, the Ho Chi Minh Roadway East of Buon Ma Thuot City Diversion project has been delayed and has exceeded its budget due to problems with land clearance and a number of poorly qualified contractors.
The Ho Chi Minh Roadway East of Buon Ma Thuot City Diversion is confirmed as experiencing delays Photo: CAO NGUYEN
Consecutive Major Contracts
Regarding Thuan An Corporation, which was established in 2004 but only became a “major player” in the construction industry in 2019, it has since repeatedly been chosen to carry out contracts worth trillions of VND for many transportation projects throughout the nation.
In Bac Giang, the consortium of contractors, involving Thuan An Corporation, secured an agreement for constructing a tunnel that was part of the Dong Viet Bridge Construction Project. The bid price for the contract was 1,132,735 billion VND, and the bid was won at 1,132,351 billion VND. Defendant Nguyen Van Thao, who at that time was working as Director of the Department of Construction Investment Project Management and Transportation and Agricultural Works for Bac Giang Province, was the one who signed the decision to award Contract No. 7… Construction and inspections conducted by the Ministry of Construction discovered a number of violations taking place on the project.
In addition, Thuan An Corporation, working independently or as part of a consortium, is simultaneously carrying out a number of other contracts in numerous locations throughout the nation.
In 2023, the consortium formed by No. 1 Construction Corporation, Truong Son Construction and Investment Joint Stock Company, Dat Phuong Group Corporation, and Thuan An Corporation was successful in their bid for contract No. 11-XL to construct the Dai Ngai 2 Bridge, the route, and ancillary constructions along the route, for the bid price of 1,727 billion VND.
Thuan An Corporation, Phuong Nam Construction and Engineering Joint Stock Company, Bac Trung Nam Infrastructure Development Joint Stock Company, and 168 Vietnam Construction Group Joint Stock Company as part of a consortium, were awarded construction package No. 02 for the construction of the Km22+000 – Km32+000 section of the Khanh Hoa – Buon Ma Thuot Expressway Phase 1 project with a bid price of 2,078 billion VND.
This company was also successful in their bid for a portion of the Tuyen Quang – Ha Giang Expressway project (Phase I), specifically the section located within Ha Giang Province, with a bid price of over 815 billion VND. In addition to these projects, Thuan An Corporation has received several other construction contracts in various areas between 2019 and 2023.
On April 17, the Office of the People’s Committee of Quang Nam Province announced that after conducting a review, departments, agencies, and localities within the province have reported that no projects in which any local authority serves as investor are associated with Thuan An Corporation. “In Quang Nam, there is no project with Thuan An Corporation as an investor, but for projects in which a ministry acts as investor, you will have to ask the ministry about it,” a leader from the Office of the People’s Committee of Quang Nam Province reported.
According to our investigation, Thuan An Construction and Trade Development Joint Stock Company (which is the predecessor of Thuan An Corporation) and their consort partners were awarded to contracts for two projects in Quang Nam Province where government agencies under the Ministry of Transport acted as investors. These were contract XL17 for Component 2 – Phase 2 of the Project to Invest in Construction and Reinforcement of Bridges along the National Highway to Ensure Uniformity in Load Capacity and contract XD02 for the Project to Renovate and Upgrade National Highway 14E.
Crimes and Corresponding Punishments
In connection to the case that took place at Thuan An Corporation, the C03 Department has also temporarily detained Nguyen Khac Man, Vice President of Thuan An Corporation, in addition to charging him and Nguyen Duy Hung with the crimes of “Violating Bidding Regulations and Causing Serious Consequences” and “Offering Bribes”. Defendant Tran Anh Quang, who is the general director of the corporation, has also been detained for “Offering Bribes”; C03 has also detained two employees of the Department of Investment Project Management and Transportation and Agricultural Works for Bac Giang Province, namely Nguyen Van Thao, the department’s director, and Dam Van Cuong, the department’s deputy director, on charges of “Violating Bidding Regulations, Leading to Serious Consequences” and “Receiving Bribes”. Hoang The Du, head of the Bac Giang Provincial Construction Project Management Department, has been detained for “Violating Bidding Regulations, Causing Serious Consequences”.
In the 2015 Criminal Code, the crime of “Violating Regulations on Bidding, Causing Serious Consequences” is detailed, which stipulates that any person found guilty of causing losses of 1 billion VND or more is subject to a prison sentence of up to 20 years. For the crime of “Offering Bribes”, if the bribe is in the form of money, property, or other benefits with a value of 1 billion VND or more, the perpetrator may face imprisonment for 12 to 20 years. Meanwhile, the crime of “Accepting Bribes” stipulates that anyone who accepts money, property, or other material benefits with a value of 1 billion VND or more or causes property damage of 5 billion VND or more shall be sentenced to up to 20 years in jail, life in prison, or death.
