After nearly a week of trial and deliberation, the Ho Chi Minh City High-Level People’s Court of Appeals today (May 12) announced its verdict for the seven defendants who had filed appeals in the Xuyen Viet Oil case.
According to the judge, during the trial, the defendants admitted to the crimes as concluded in the first-instance verdict.
The court found sufficient grounds to determine that defendant Mai Thi Hong Hanh, the former Director and Chairman of Xuyen Viet Oil, had abused her position and violated regulations regarding the use of price stabilization and environmental protection funds, resulting in a loss of 1.463 trillion VND (approximately $62 million) in state assets.
Of this amount, 219 billion VND was lost from the price stabilization fund, and 1.244 trillion VND was lost from environmental protection taxes.
The court emphasized that the defendant’s actions not only disrupted social order but also threatened national energy security.
However, considering mitigating circumstances, including the defendants’ voluntary compensation for the damage and their previous contributions, the court partially accepted the appeals of six of the defendants and reduced their sentences.
The defendants during the first-instance trial
As a result, Le Duc Tho, the former Secretary of the Ben Tre Provincial Party Committee, was sentenced to 14 years for “Taking Bribes” and 7 years for “Abusing Position and Power to Gain Benefits.” The total sentence for both crimes is 21 years. In the first instance, Tho had been sentenced to 28 years for both offenses.
Mai Thi Hong Hanh was sentenced to 11 years for “Offering Bribes” and 17 years for “Violating Regulations on the Management and Use of State Assets, causing wastefulness.” The total sentence for both crimes is 28 years. Previously, Hanh had been sentenced to 30 years for these two offenses.
Tran Duy Dong, the former head of the Domestic Market Department, had his sentence reduced from 7 years to 5 years for “Taking Bribes.” Three other defendants also had their sentences reduced by 1 to 2 years.
Regarding Nguyen Loc An, the former deputy head of the Domestic Market Department, while he compensated an additional amount of over 100 million VND during the appeal trial, he played an active role in granting business licenses to Xuyen Viet Oil, resulting in particularly serious consequences. As he is also being tried by the Hanoi People’s Court in another case, there were no grounds for mitigating his sentence.
By Hoang Lam (edited)
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