Former Executive Dinh La Thang Unable to Pay $34 Million in Compensation

The enforcement of the sentence against Mr. Dinh La Thang remains incomplete.

On May 27, speaking to Tien Phong newspaper, a representative of the General Department of Civil Judgment Enforcement (Ministry of Justice) said that the Ho Chi Minh City Judgment Enforcement Agency had just enforced the property assigned by the Hanoi Judgment Enforcement Agency related to Mr. Dinh La Thang. However, this property has not been publicly disclosed in detail, nor its value revealed.

Regarding the enforcement of assets in the case that occurred in other localities, it has not been completed yet.

The representative of the General Department of Judgment Enforcement also corrected some media reports stating that the enforcement of Mr. Dinh La Thang’s case, which caused a loss of over VND 800 billion, was inaccurate.

“During the enforcement process, the units discovered that there was an asset of Mr. Thang in Ho Chi Minh City, so they continued to enforce the remaining property. It doesn’t mean that the Ho Chi Minh City Judgment Enforcement Agency has completed the enforcement of over VND 800 billion. He doesn’t even have enough money to enforce the judgment,” said the representative of the General Department of Judgment Enforcement.

Currently serving a total of 30 years in prison after 4 sentences

Mr. Dinh La Thang (former Chairman of the Member Council of PVN Corporation, former Minister of Transport, and former Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee) is serving a total sentence of 30 years in prison, following four separate trials, and is obliged to compensate for losses amounting to over VND 800 billion.

Due to his involvement in multiple cases, the details of civil judgment enforcement and compensation payments between him and his accomplices have not been publicly disclosed. As of early April 2021, at a regular press conference held by the Ministry of Justice, a leader of the General Department of Judgment Enforcement stated that Mr. Thang had only compensated over VND 4.5 billion.

In the first case, the Hanoi People’s Court of Appeals in May 2018 convicted Mr. Thang, in his capacity as Chairman of PVN Corporation, of approving PVC as the main contractor for the Thai Binh 2 Thermal Power Plant project based solely on reports from PVC and PVPower, despite PVC’s lack of experience in managing and executing large projects. As a result, Mr. Thang was charged with “deliberately wrongdoing,” causing a loss of over VND 119 billion, for which he was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

In June 2018, the Hanoi People’s Court of Appeals sentenced Mr. Dinh La Thang to an additional 18 years in prison in the second case. In this case, Mr. Thang was accused of signing an agreement for PVN to contribute capital to Ocean Bank beyond his authority and contrary to the corporation’s functions. This agreement served as a basis for subsequent resolutions on capital contribution. Consequently, PVN suffered a loss of nearly VND 800 billion, and Mr. Thang was personally ordered to compensate VND 600 billion.

The third case involved violations in the Ho Chi Minh City-Trung Luong Highway project. In December 2020, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court sentenced Mr. Thang (at the time of the offense, he was the Minister of Transport) to 10 years in prison for “violating regulations on the management and use of State assets, causing waste and loss.”

The fourth case occurred at the Ethanol Phu Tho Project. In mid-March 2021, the Hanoi People’s Court sentenced Mr. Dinh La Thang to 11 years in prison for “violating regulations on investment in construction works, causing serious consequences.”

In previous trials, Mr. Dinh La Thang has repeatedly mentioned that he “has no money,” implying that he lacks the financial means to comply with the civil judgments, which require him to compensate for losses amounting to hundreds of billions of dong.