The Hanoi People’s Court was expected to sentence Nguyen Thi Loan (former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vimedimex Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company) and 10 other defendants in a case involving violations in the auction of land use rights in Dong Anh (Hanoi) this afternoon, April 22. However, when the hearing commenced, the Trial Panel unexpectedly announced that the case would be remanded for further questioning due to the need to clarify certain details.
Defendants in court |
At the hearing this afternoon, the defendant Nguyen Thi Loan claimed that 37 arrest warrants in the case file were incorrect. In particular, there were many details in the arrest warrants that the defendant “had never seen before and were incorrect in both content and signature”.
The Trial Panel then adjourned the hearing for deliberation. After deliberation, the Trial Panel made a decision to return the case for further investigation.
Specifically, the Trial Panel requested an examination of Nguyen Thi Loan’s signature and verification of documents related to Investigator Bui Duc Hieu. In addition, it requested a review of the conduct and charges against several other defendants. It also asked for an examination of the responsibilities of certain officials in state management agencies involved in the auction of assets.
The Trial Panel also requested clarification regarding the starting price for participation in the auction in Co Duong village, Tien Duong commune, Dong Anh district (November 20, 2020) in this case, which was VND 18.2 million/m2. Meanwhile, there was a project (a project to invest in the construction of technical infrastructure for sale in Lot I-A1: Construction of a residential land development project to auction the right to use land north of Road 23B in Tien Duong commune) adjacent to the project in this case and auctioned one day earlier (November 19, 2020), with a starting price of VND 13.6 million/m2 – Step price of VND 600,000/m2. The Court requested a review and comparison of projects from the same period that were all related to the auction of land use rights in Dong Anh district (the defendant submitted documents to the court inviting bids for 6 projects in the communes of Tien Duong, Viet Hung, Van Noi, Van Ha, and Duc Tu in Dong Anh district, Hanoi at the same time).
According to the indictment, in 2020, the Project Management and Construction Investment Board of Dong Anh District organized an auction for a 49,000 m2 land lot in Co Duong village, Tien Duong commune. The defendant Tran Cong Tuyen asked someone to contact Hanoi Valuation and Investment Consulting Joint Stock Company (VVAI) headed by Nguyen Thi Dieu Linh to appraise the land lot. Linh and a team of employees conducted a site survey, received documents and files, and determined the value of the land lot to be approximately VND 504 billion (equivalent to VND 31 million/m2). However, Mr. Tuyen instructed his subordinates to ask VVAI to revise the unit price, adjust, and lower the value of the land lot to VND 300 billion. The valuation unit’s employees revised and lowered the land unit price on the spreadsheet to reduce the valuation of the land lot to approximately VND 334 billion.
In August 2020, the Hanoi People’s Committee issued a decision to assign 49,000 m2 of land in Co Duong village to the People’s Committee of Dong Anh District to implement a project to build technical infrastructure for the auction of land use rights, of which over 16,000 m2 would be auctioned for housing.
During the approval process for the starting price by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Tuyen and his subordinates suggested “inserting” VVAI to sign the valuation contract. Having adjusted and lowered the value of the land lot as requested by Tuyen, VVAI issued a certificate determining the value of the land lot to be over VND 284 billion. As a result, the starting price for the auction was distorted, creating conditions for companies participating in the auction owned by Nguyen Thi Loan to collude to depress prices and win the auction at a low price.
The prosecuting agency determined that the defendant Loan used 3 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 land lot. The defendant Loan agreed with Nguyen Quang Hung, Ta Thi Van, and Nguyen Xuan Duc to bid in each round with the same amount of money to be drawn by lot, and whichever company won the auction, the project would still go to the former chairman of Vimedimex.
As a result, Bac Tu Liem Housing Development Joint Stock Company won the auction for the land lot with a price of over VND 326 billion. The prosecuting agency concluded that as a result of the issuance of an incorrect valuation certificate, the company that won the auction for the land lot benefited by over VND 135 billion.
Nguyen Huong
