HÀ NỘI — The Hà Nội People’s Court today delivered its verdict on the malfeasances, which took place at the State-owned oil group, wrapping up two weeks of the high-profile trial.

Some 22 defendants were punished for their involvement in the wrongful selection of the then financially-struggling PetroVietnam Construction JSC (PVC) as the one to undertake the US$1.7 billion Thái Bình thermal power plant project, under the behest of PVC’s mother company, National Oil and Gas Group PetroVietnam (PVN), against regulations and in spite of PVC’s demonstrated lack of capacity. The advance payment ($6 million and VNĐ 1.3 trillion) paid by PVN to PVC was also found to have been misused, resulting in a loss of VNĐ120 billion ($5.3 million) to the State coffers.

The Hà Nội court deemed this a particularly serious case of economic violations and corruption, where the defendants, holding high-ranking positions in State-controlled economic establishments entrusted by the government to carry out strategically important projects, abused their power to intentionally commit wrongdoings.

The final sentences handed down to the defendants mostly stayed true or were lessened slightly, compared to the punishments that the Hà Nội prosecutors sought, with the strictest one being life imprisonment and the lightest one being a suspended sentence.

Đinh La Thăng, PVN former chairman and former Politburo member, expelled from the Communist Party in December last year, received 13 years of imprisonment on the charge of “deliberate violations of State management regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences” under the Penal Code. Prosecutors originally wanted 14-15 years for Đinh La Thăng as they identified him as the one who signed the approval designating PVC as the general contractor, despite evidence pointing towards PVC’s weaknesses. The judges said the prison time was cut back after “serious consideration of Thăng’s clean record and extenuating circumstances”; however, he would be barred from holding financial and economic manager positions 4-5 years after serving the sentence.

Some 13 others were also given jail time due to violation of economic regulations, including Phùng Đình Thực, former PVN director-general, and his two deputies Nguyễn Quốc Khánh and Nguyễn Xuân Sơn.

Some 10 defendants were found guilty of embezzlement, including PVC former deputy general-director Nguyễn Anh Minh, who got 16 years.

Of the 10, three defendants, originally working in Vũng Áng – Quảng Trạch project’s management board, and receiving suspended sentences, were released immediately (if they are not involved in another case).