Defendants at the trial. Throughout the investigation and during the trial, the defendants confessed to their crimes and agreed that the charges brought against them were accurate and lawful. VNA/VNS Photo

QUẢNG NINH The former director of the Hải Phòng City Police, has been sentenced to ten years in prison on Friday for fraudulent appropriation of assets.

After a three-day trial, the Quảng Ninh People's Court gave first-instance judgements for Đỗ Hữu Ca and 12 other defendants in the case of illegal invoice trading and bribery at Khánh Dung Joint Stock Company.

The remaining 12 defendants were sentenced as follows: For the offences of illegal trading of invoices and bribery, Trương Xuân Đước was sentenced to 24 months for the first offence and seven years for the second offence, totalling nine years in prison Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Anh (Đước's wife) was sentenced to 18 months for the first offence and three years for the second offence, totalling four years and six months in prison.

For bribery, Nguyễn Đình Đương, former Head of Cát Hải District Tax Department (Hải Phòng City), was sentenced to six years and six months in prison; Đỗ Thanh Hoài, former official of Cát Hải District Tax Department (Hải Phòng), was sentenced to four years and six months in prison.

For illegal trading of invoices, Đặng Khắc Thành was sentenced to 18 months in prison; Hà Thị Bích Nhàn was sentenced to 15 months in prison.

For the six defendants convicted of tax evasion, no imprisonment penalty was applied, instead, they have to pay administrative fines. Specifically, defendant Đỗ Thị Đua was fined VNĐ2.5 billion (US$100,000); Hà Thị Trang was fined VNĐ1.5 billion ($60,000); Vũ Ngọc Tú was fined VNĐ1.2 billion ($48,000); Chu Thị Thu Hiền was fined VNĐ800 million ($32,000); Nguyễn Hiền Tài was fined VNĐ350 million ($14,000); Ngô Văn Tuyên was fined VNĐ300 million ($12,000).

The court's verdict highlights the collusion between businesses and individuals in State agencies for financial gain, causing significant damage to the State budget. The defendants' actions disrupted the functioning of agencies, leading to degradation and corruption among officials, eroding public trust in the Party and the State.

From March 2013 to May 2022, in Hải Phòng, Hà Nội, Hải Dương, Quảng Ninh, defendants Trương Xuân Đước and Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Anh managed and operated 26 companies engaged in illegal trading of invoices, aiming for illicit profits.

Investigations determined that the number of invoices illegally traded by Đước and his wife exceeded 15,674, resulting in illicit gains of over VNĐ41 billion ($1.63 million).

Trương Xuân Đước and Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Anh bribed Nguyễn Đình Đương and Đỗ Thanh Hoài with VNĐ362 million ($14,500) to facilitate the establishment of companies engaged in illegal invoice trading.

To conceal their criminal activities and evade legal responsibility, from October to December 2022, Đước and his wife gave VNĐ35 billion to Đỗ Hữu Ca to escape charges.

Although unable to assist Đước and his wife in evading charges, Ca deceitfully promised to help and accepted and misappropriated the money given to him.

Ca, after his arrest, returned the entire sum of VNĐ35 billion ($1.4 million), and due to his numerous accomplishments in his past work, many departments in Hải Phòng submitted petitions for a lenient penalty.

From August 2021 to August 2022, Nguyễn Đình Đương and Đỗ Thanh Hoài received bribes of VNĐ362 million ($14,500) from Trương Xuân Đước and Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Anh. From these bribes, Đương and Hoài facilitated the establishment of three companies engaged in illegal invoice trading in Cát Hải District (Hải Phòng).

Defendants Đặng Khắc Thành and Hà Thị Bích Nhàn acted as intermediaries in the illegal trading of invoices by Đước and his wife and resold them at higher prices to others to profit from the price difference.

Throughout the investigation and during the trial, the defendants confessed to their crimes and agreed that the charges brought against them were accurate and lawful.

The People's Court assessed that Ca's criminal acts were dangerous to society, directly infringing on the legitimate property rights of citizens protected by law, and causing adverse effects on public opinion. VNS