On December 3, the Investigation Police Agency (Hanoi Police) decided to temporarily detain five individuals: Pham Ngoc Tuan, Ngo Van Duong, Nguyen Duc Thanh, Nguyen The Trung, and Nguyen The Quan, for “Violation of regulations on auction activities”, as stipulated in Article 218, Clause 2 of the 2015 Criminal Code.
Earlier, in November 2024, Pham Ngoc Tuan (born 1991, Dong Anh district, Hanoi) learned about an auction of land-use rights in a technical infrastructure construction project to upgrade and develop a rural residential area (Dong Lai village, Quang Tien commune, Soc Son district). He then asked Ngo Van Duong (born 1994, also from Dong Anh) to buy the auction dossier issued by Thanh Xuan Company (Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi) – the unit coordinating the auction.
To ensure their success in acquiring the desired land lots, Pham Ngoc Tuan colluded with Nguyen Thi Quynh Lien (born 1981, Dong Anh), Nguyen Duc Thanh (born 1992, Bac Ninh city), Nguyen The Trung (born 1994, Dong Anh), Nguyen The Quan (born 1994, Dong Anh), and Ngo Van Duong (born 1994, Dong Anh) to participate in the auction and conspire to inflate prices during the auction.
The detained individuals. Photo: Hanoi Police |
Specifically, Tuan provided a reference price list for each land lot, which he had calculated and prepared beforehand. According to this list, the land lots were valued between 20 million VND and 32 million VND per square meter, estimated at around 1.7 billion VND to 3.9 billion VND per lot.
The group agreed that these were the highest prices they were willing to pay for each lot. If, by the fourth round of bidding, the highest bid was still below Tuan’s predetermined price, the group, including Duong, Lien, Thanh, Quan, and Trung, would continue to the fifth and sixth rounds without exceeding Tuan’s assessed price.
However, if during the fourth round, someone bid higher than the maximum price set by Tuan, the group would offer an abnormally high price in the fifth round but withdraw from the final round (sixth round). This would cause the auction to be halted and rescheduled for another time, as per regulations requiring six rounds of bidding.
By doing so, they would not lose their deposit and could participate in the rescheduled auction to acquire their desired land lots. To execute this plan, the group transferred money to Duong and Tuan. Subsequently, Tuan transferred a total of 3.616 billion VND to Thanh Xuan Company as a deposit for the land auction.
In reality, during the auction on November 29, the group initially bid according to the predetermined prices. However, when they noticed that the bids for 36 out of 58 land lots exceeded the maximum prices they had discussed, they drastically increased their bids in the fifth round, with Pham Ngoc Tuan even offering over 30 billion VND per square meter (approximately 12,000 times the starting price)… Ultimately, the auction of these 36 land lots was unsuccessful.
Given the unusual signs during the auction, the Director of Hanoi Police directed the Police Department for Corruption, Economy, Smuggling, and Environment Crimes Investigation to coordinate with relevant units to promptly investigate and clarify the illegal activities of the involved individuals.
At the same time, he instructed specialized units to strengthen inspections, promptly detect, prevent, and strictly handle any acts of taking advantage of policies and laws to violate the law in the field of asset auctions, particularly land-use rights auctions, in the city.
Currently, the Investigation Police Agency of Hanoi Police is consolidating documents and evidence to prosecute the case and punish the involved individuals in accordance with the law.
Quang Phong
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