“Former Ben Tre Provincial Party Committee Secretary Le Duc Tho Took Bribes Worth Billions of Dongs, Received a Mercedes S450 as a Gift”

On August 27th, the Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security (C0DT) concluded their investigation and proposed the prosecution of 15 defendants in the Xuyen Viet Oil case on charges of “Violation of regulations on the management and use of state assets, causing loss and waste”, “Giving and Receiving Bribes”, and “Abuse of position and power to influence others for personal gain”.

The Ministry of Public Security has recommended that the Supreme People’s Procuracy prosecute Do Thang Hai, former Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, for receiving bribes. Le Duc Tho, former Chairman of Vietinbank and former Secretary of the Ben Tre Provincial Party Committee, and Le Duy Minh, former Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance and former Director of Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department, are also facing the same charges.

In addition, Le Duc Tho is also accused of “Abuse of position and power to influence others for personal gain.”

Mai Thi Hong Hanh, Director and Chairman of Xuyen Viet Oil, is accused of “Violation of regulations on the management and use of state assets, causing loss and waste” and “Giving bribes”. Nguyen Thi Nhu Phuong, Deputy Director of Xuyen Viet Oil, is accused of “Violation of regulations on the management and use of state assets, causing loss and waste”.

According to the conclusion, during the management and operation of gasoline trading at Xuyen Viet Oil, Mai Thi Hong Hanh violated the regulations on the management and use of the Petrol Price Stabilization Fund (BOG) and the task of collecting and remitting the Environmental Protection Tax to the state budget, causing a total loss of VND 1,463 billion.

The investigation revealed that Hanh instructed her employees to transfer money from the BOG fund into her personal account instead of following the prescribed BOG deduction regulations. This money was then used by the defendant to purchase real estate, lend to friends, spend on personal expenses, and bribe individuals at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department.

To deal with inspection and supervision activities, Mai Thi Hong Hanh instructed her accounting staff to prepare 81 reports on the situation of BOG deduction and use, while the actual balance in the account did not match the reported data. These actions caused a loss of more than VND 219 billion.

Additionally, Hanh also violated regulations regarding the collection and management of Environmental Protection Tax on behalf of the state. Specifically, she intentionally used the collected tax money for personal purposes, resulting in a loss of more than VND 1,244 billion.

Regarding the act of receiving bribes by Le Duc Tho, the investigation agency determined that in 2018, Mai Thi Hong Hanh got to know Le Duc Tho through Xuyen Viet Oil’s credit relationship with the bank where Mr. Tho was the Chairman of the Board.

To obtain approval for a credit limit of VND 7,000 billion and to extend the maintenance period of the credit limit for Xuyen Viet Oil, Mai Thi Hong Hanh bribed Mr. Tho on two occasions. The first time was in January 2019, when Hanh met with Le Duc Tho to request the credit limit. She gave him USD 100,000. The second bribe took place in 2020 when Xuyen Viet Oil wanted to “reconnect the credit relationship” with the bank managed by Mr. Tho. Hanh gave him USD 500,000, and in return, the Chairman approved the extension of the credit limit of VND 3,000 billion for Xuyen Viet Oil.

In relation to the charge of “Abuse of position and power to influence others for personal gain” against Le Duc Tho, the Investigation Agency found that in 2021, after being assigned to work as the Secretary of the Ben Tre Provincial Party Committee, Le Duc Tho wanted to enhance his personal prestige. He asked Mai Thi Hong Hanh to establish a branch or subsidiary of Xuyen Viet Oil in Ben Tre Province to pay taxes, thereby increasing the provincial budget revenue. In return, Xuyen Viet Oil would be facilitated in implementing real estate, port, and tourism projects in the locality.

Following this request, Hanh established Viet Oil Joint Stock Company in Ben Tre and applied for a loan at a bank managed by Mr. Tho in Ben Tre Province. Secretary Tho met and called Nguyen Thanh Truong, Director of the bank branch, several times to request support for Mai Thi Hong Hanh.

When he learned that the Ben Tre branch of the bank intended to charge a fee of VND 100 million for a premium account number for Viet Oil Company, Le Duc Tho asked Nguyen Thanh Truong to waive this fee.

During the loan application process, the bank approved a credit limit of VND 400 billion for Viet Oil Company, with a collateral ratio of 50% and a credit ratio of 50%. However, this was not approved because Xuyen Viet Oil (the parent company of Viet Oil) was already receiving credit with a collateral ratio of 80% and a credit ratio of 20%. The bank branch informed Mai Thi Hong Hanh, but she requested a credit ratio of 40% or higher before agreeing to the loan.

Nguyen Thanh Truong met and reported this to Le Duc Tho, who then asked him to urgently appraise and submit the dossier to the bank’s head office for approval of the credit limit as requested by Mai Thi Hong Hanh. Subsequently, the Ben Tre branch of the bank disbursed a total of VND 892 billion in 20 loan transactions to Viet Oil Company.

During this process, Mr. Le Duc Tho and his associates received gifts from Mai Thi Hong Hanh on three occasions, including a set of golf clubs worth VND 1.1 billion and a Patek Philippe Plus watch worth USD 421,000. The second time, at the Ben Tre Provincial Party Committee Guest House, Hanh gave Le Duc Tho USD 200,000. The third time, in May 2022, Hanh bought and gifted Le Duc Tho a Mercedes-Benz S450 Luxury car worth VND 6.7 billion.

Regarding the total amount of USD 1,070,000 that he received from Mai Thi Hong Hanh (including both bribes and gifts), Le Duc Tho confessed to depositing USD 440,000 at a relative’s house and has returned this amount to the investigative agency. He claimed to have spent the rest.