Former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoàng Văn Thắng at the trial in Hà Nội on Monday. — VNA/VNS Photo Kim Anh

HÀ NỘI — The Hà Nội People’s Court on Monday opened the first-instance trial of former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoàng Văn Thắng and 22 other defendants.

The defendants have been indicted by the Supreme People’s Procuracy on charges of giving bribes under Article 364 of the Criminal Code, receiving bribes under Article 354, violating regulations on bidding causing serious consequences under Article 222 and violating accounting regulations causing serious consequences under Article 221.

Of the 23 defendants, three are on bail while 19 are in custody.

One defendant, Nguyễn Hải Thanh, former deputy head of the ministry's Construction Management Department and concurrently director of Project Management Unit 4, is currently at large and wanted by police.

The court has issued a notice calling on Thanh to surrender and appear in court to exercise his right to self-defence in accordance with the law.

If he fails to appear without valid reason, he will be deemed to have waived that right and will be tried in absentia.

At the opening hearing, Lê Quang Thế, former chairman of the board of directors of Irrigation Corporation 4, submitted a request to be tried in absentia on health grounds.

After consulting prosecutors and defence counsel, the trial panel approved his request, deciding to proceed in absentia for both Thế and Thanh.

Under the indictment of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the case concerns a number of irrigation project packages managed by Project Management Units 1, 2, 4 and 8 under the ministry.

These include packages 13 and 17 of the Krông Pách Thượng Reservoir project in the Central Highlands province of Đắk Lắk; Package 36 of the Bản Mồng Reservoir project in the central province of Nghệ An; Package 21 of the Bản Lải Reservoir project in the mountainous northern province of Lạng Sơn; and Package 17 of the Cánh Tạng Reservoir project in the former province of Hòa Bình (now the northern province of Phú Thọ).

During the bidding, awarding and execution of these contracts, then-director of Hoàng Dân Company Nguyễn Văn Dân allegedly exploited personal connections with several officials at the ministry, including Thắng and former acting director of the construction management department Trần Tố Nghị, to seek introductions and influence project management leaders acting as investors.

Dân is accused of agreeing to pay commissions to these officials, who in turn directed subordinates to facilitate Dân’s company participation and success in five bidding packages across the four projects, causing losses to the State estimated at more than VNĐ250 billion (US$9.5 million).

During project implementation and business operations, Dân also allegedly instructed Hoàng Dân Company finance officer Bùi Cao Nguyên and Vũ Thị Kim Liên, the company’s chief accountant, to establish seven subsidiary firms within its corporate network and operate two parallel accounting systems, resulting in further State losses of nearly VNĐ100 billion ($3.8 million).

In his capacity as deputy minister, Thắng is accused of accepting bribes totalling VNĐ4.54 billion ($172,000) from Dân in exchange for directing Nghị to facilitate Hoàng Dân Company’s winning of Package 36 under the Bản Mồng Reservoir project in the central province of Nghệ An, causing losses of more than VNĐ51 billion ($1.9 million) to the State.

The trial panel comprises five members, two judges and three lay jurors, chaired by Judge Lê Quang Chiều.

One prosecutor from the Hà Nội People’s Procuracy and four from the Supreme People’s Procuracy, seconded to Hà Nội, have been assigned to prosecute and oversee the proceedings.

Nearly 30 lawyers are present in court to defend the legitimate rights and interests of the defendants.

The trial is expected to last 10 days. — VNS