The Great Land Scandal: Indictment of the Former Deputy County Chief Over ‘Red Book’ Issuance on Public Park-designated Land

On June 6, the Krong Pac District People’s Procuracy (Dak Lak) approved the decision to prosecute Mr. Doan Xuan Binh (DOB 1956), former Vice Chairman of Krong Pac District People’s Committee, and Mr. Phan Xuan Lam (DOB 1979), Deputy Head of the District’s Agriculture and Environment Office, for “Violation of land management regulations” under Article 229, Clause 2 of the Criminal Code.

Mr. Phan Xuan Lam, Deputy Head of the Agriculture and Environment Office of Krong Pac District, has been detained.

According to initial investigation results, on June 15, 2014, Ms. Le Thi To Kha submitted a request to lease land in the vacant lot at the beginning of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street to build a wedding banquet hall, cafe, and karaoke venue.

On December 4, 2014, the People’s Committee of Krong Pac District issued a decision approving the 1/500 detailed construction planning of Tan An Lake Central Park in Phuoc An town.

Subsequently, on December 31, 2014, Krong Pac District People’s Committee announced a call for investment in the Tan An Lake Central Park project.

In June 2015, during the implementation process, Mr. Phan Xuan Lam, then-Deputy Head of the Natural Resources and Environment Office (now the Agriculture and Environment Office), appraised and advised Mr. Doan Xuan Binh to approve the lease of 4,732 square meters of land to Ms. Le Thi To Kha.

At the same time, the district issued two Land Use Right Certificates in the Tan An Lake area to Ms. Kha, which contradicted the approved land use planning for the 2011-2020 period and the five-year land use plan for 2011-2015 of Krong Pac District, as stated in Article 52 of the 2013 Land Law.

The total value of the illegally leased land at that time was valued at over VND 7.9 billion according to appraisal.

Regarding this case, Tien Phong newspaper reported in 2021 that the Krong Pac District Inspectorate concluded that there were multiple violations in the land lease process.

Specifically, according to the Inspectorate, in 2014, the Krong Pac District Party Committee issued a conclusion agreeing in principle to allow Ms. Le Thi To Kha to lease over 4,700 square meters of land in Phuoc An town for business purposes, including a wedding banquet hall, cafe, etc.

However, the Natural Resources and Environment Office advised the People’s Committee to issue two Land Use Right Certificates to Ms. Kha, with a lease term of 50 years and an annual land rent of VND 12,700 per square meter. Ms. Kha has constructed permanent structures on this land.

The Inspectorate affirmed that the leased land is within the planning area of Tan An Lake Central Park, and the land lease violated land use regulations.

Furthermore, the inspection of related documents revealed that there was no assessment of the need for land lease when leasing the park land, no asset dossier for auction, no auction plan or decision, and no adherence to the conclusions of the District Party Committee and People’s Committee, which only approved the leasing of the business premises, while the actual implementation involved leasing the land use rights.