The Department of Defense’s Criminal Investigation Agency has initiated criminal proceedings for violations of land management regulations in the Thanh An Tower project at 21 Le Van Luong (Thanh Xuan, Hanoi). The project has been abandoned, with its entrances sealed shut for many years.
Located on Le Van Luong Street (Thanh Xuan, Hanoi), the Thanh An Tower project was initially invested in by Thanh An Corporation and allocated land in 2009 with a total area of 4,182m2, of which the construction area was 2,104m2, with the aim of building a 30-story commercial and apartment complex. However, after receiving the land, Thanh An Corporation did not develop the project independently but instead entered into a business cooperation agreement with Ba Dinh Construction Investment and Consulting Joint Stock Company.
Despite holding a groundbreaking ceremony in 2009, the project did not receive a construction permit from the Hanoi Department of Construction until March 2017. After nearly 10 years of inactivity, the Thanh An Tower project was relaunched in early 2018 under the new name Manhattan Tower, and the project developer was also renamed – Landmark Holding Joint Stock Company (LMH – HOSE).
The project was expected to be completed and apartments handed over by May 2019 (no more than 90 days after the expected handover date). However, the project was suspended in December 2018 after construction had reached the 24th floor. All workers, machinery, and construction equipment were removed from the site at that time.
On April 24, Dai Doan Ket Newspaper reporters observed that the Thanh An Tower project resembled a monolithic concrete structure standing “motionless.” The entrance gate to the project was closed and had become a spot for selling tea. Security guards were always present inside, and materials and waste were piled up in a disorderly manner.
After many years, the project’s outdoor billboards have faded and deteriorated.
A project image billboard is torn.
Inside the unfinished project, materials are piled up haphazardly. Recently, the Criminal Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Defense issued a Notice to Thanh An Corporation, the Ministry of Defense; Ba Dinh Construction Investment and Consulting Joint Stock Company; Quoc Te Holding Joint Stock Company; and the whistleblower about the results of the investigation into the source of information about crimes related to the Thanh An Tower project at 21 Le Van Luong (Nhan Chinh Ward, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi).
In the notice, the Criminal Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Defense stated that it had previously received criminal complaints from several individuals who had purchased apartments in the Thanh An Tower project, requesting that the Ministry of Defense and other competent authorities investigate and clarify the following: lax land management, management of state capital and assets, irregularities in project management, and the responsibility of Thanh An Corporation in selecting business cooperation partners; strictly handle and resolve the investor’s violations;收回projecfrom Thanh An Corporation and Ba Dinh Company and hand it over to other units with sufficient capacity to carry it out; and clarify the responsibility of banks in lending and disbursing loans to customers.
According to the investigation results, on April 5, the Criminal Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Defense issued a decision to initiate criminal proceedings for violations of land management regulations in the Thanh An Tower project at 21 Le Van Luong, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi.
