Five Former Provincial Party Chiefs to Face Trial in the Phuc Son Corporation Case

Former Top Provincial Party Officials and Senior Officials Face Trial

On June 24th, the Hanoi People’s Court is expected to hold a first-instance trial for 41 defendants involved in a case related to Phuc Son Group and several provinces and cities. Among them, defendant Nguyen Van Hau (also known as Hau Pao, Chairman of Phuc Son Group) is charged with three offenses: “Bribery; Violation of accounting regulations causing serious consequences; and Violation of bidding regulations causing serious consequences.”

The defendants: Hoang Thi Thuy Lan (former Secretary of the Vinh Phuc Provincial Party Committee); Le Duy Thanh (former Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee); Pham Hoang Anh (former Permanent Vice Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee); Nguyen Van Khoat (former Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee); Hoang Van Nhiem (former Vice Director of the Provincial Department of Finance); Chu Quoc Hai (former Vice Director of the Provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment); Cao Khoa (former Chairman of the Quang Ngai Provincial People’s Committee); Le Viet Chu (former Secretary of the Quang Ngai Provincial Party Committee); and Dang Van Minh (former Chairman of the Quang Ngai Provincial People’s Committee) are charged with “Taking bribes.”

The defendants: Pham Van Vong (former Secretary of the Vinh Phuc Provincial Party Committee); Phung Quang Hung (former Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee); Ha Hoa Binh (former Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee); Ngo Duc Vuong and Nguyen Doan Khanh (both former Secretaries of the Phu Tho Provincial Party Committee), along with three others, are charged with “Abusing their positions and powers while performing their duties.”

Meanwhile, defendant Dang Trung Hoanh (former Chief of Office of Mang Thit District Party Committee, Vinh Long Province) is accused of “Taking advantage of relationships with persons holding positions of authority for personal gain.”

Defendant Pham Ngoc Cuong (Vice Chairman of Phuc Son Group); Do Huu Vinh (former General Director of Phuc Son Group), along with 20 other defendants, are tried for “Violation of accounting regulations causing serious consequences” and “Violation of bidding regulations causing serious consequences.”

Bribery and Corruption

According to the indictment, Hau Pao is accused of bribing the group of officials from Vinh Phuc, Phu Tho, and Quang Ngai provinces with 72.5 billion VND and 2.62 million USD (a total of 132 billion VND). He also provided money to several other individuals. Through these acts of corruption, Hau engaged in bidding violations to benefit himself, causing a loss of 459.4 billion VND to the state, while keeping 504.5 billion VND off the books for personal gain.

Specifically, in Vinh Phuc province, the case file indicates that towards the end of 2016, defendant Nguyen Van Hau met with Ms. Lan at her office in the Provincial Party Committee and was “suggested” to facilitate the acquisition of several delayed real estate projects of other companies.

In the case of the wholesale agricultural products market project, the warehousing and transportation system, and the commercial urban area in Vinh Tuong district, Mr. Hau discussed the possibility of buying back the shares of Thang Long Hong River Corporation (the investor) to continue the project.

After receiving Ms. Lan’s agreement, Hau further communicated and negotiated with Le Duy Thanh, former Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, and Pham Hoang Anh, former Director of the Provincial Department of Construction (former Permanent Vice Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee), to facilitate the transfer of the project.

Additionally, Hau approached Mr. Nguyen Van Khoat, Director of the Provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, offering money to expedite land price determination.

The wholesale market project was later valued at 507 billion VND in terms of land use rights. However, to obtain support in transferring the land at a price lower than the market value, Hau directly and indirectly provided money to the senior leaders of Vinh Phuc Province. Specifically, he gave Ms. Lan 25 billion VND and 1 million USD on three separate occasions.

Regarding Le Duy Thanh, the former Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, the Procuracy alleges that Nguyen Van Hau bribed him a total of 20 billion VND and 1.3 million USD on multiple occasions.

In Vinh Long province, according to the Procuracy, during a visit by “senior leaders” to Mang Thit District Party Committee, Mr. Hau proposed to provide financial support to the locality. This sponsorship was offered by Hau as an individual to help the locality overcome difficulties in building rural infrastructure and ensuring social welfare.

Defendant Dang Trung Hoanh was chosen to directly liaise and receive the sponsorship money. Mr. Hau requested that his identity and the related financial documents be kept confidential to avoid legal procedures and regulations stipulated in the Law on Public Investment.

The sponsorship funds were transferred in multiple installments over the years. Mang Thit District would spend the money as needed and then report the expenses to Hau, and the following year’s sponsorship would include the remaining balance from the previous year.

From 2017 to 2024, Mr. Hoanh requested and received a total of 75.6 billion VND from Hau. This included 27 transfers totaling 69.1 billion VND to Mr. Hoanh’s account and two direct payments to the Mang Thit District Party Committee amounting to 6.5 billion VND.

Taking advantage of his position in managing and utilizing this money, Mr. Hoanh suggested to Hau that he could keep 700 million VND out of the 69.1 billion VND for personal gain. Additionally, after the money was transferred, “Hau asked Hoanh to use 8.5 billion VND to buy land for the family of a senior leader.” For this, Hoanh received 110 million VND.

In Quang Ngai province, Cao Khoa received bribes on five occasions, totaling more than 6.4 billion VND, while Le Viet Chu received a total of 6 billion VND on six occasions, and Dang Van Minh received bribes amounting to tens of billions of VND.

The wrongdoing of the group of former officials in Quang Ngai Province occurred in relation to the project on the south bank of Tra Khuc River and facilitating Phuc Son Group to win the bid for Package No. 10 of the National Highway 1 Project, causing a loss of over 200 billion VND.

In Phu Tho province, the Procuracy accused the two former Secretaries of the Provincial Party Committee, Ngo Duc Vuong and Nguyen Doan Khanh, of receiving bribes totaling 2 billion VND after “supporting” Hau Pao’s company in obtaining contracts for packages belonging to the Den Hung project.