Former Minister of Information and Communications Nguyễn Bắc Son in court in Hà Nội on Friday. — VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tuấn

 HÀ NỘI — The People’s Procuracy has determined that former Minister of Information and Communications Nguyễn Bắc Son played the leading role in a case involving MobiFone Telecommunications Corporation’s purchase of a 95 percent stake in Audio Visual Global JSC (AVG), an appeal trial heard in Hà Nội on Friday.

The Procuracy said Son received US$3 million in bribes from Phạm Nhật Vũ, former chairman of AVG’s board of directors, and recommended that Son’s life sentence for “taking bribes” and 16 years for “violating regulations on the management and use of public investment capital, causing serious consequences” be upheld.

A seven-year handed down to Lê Nam Trà, former chairman of MobiFone’s Member Council, for “violating regulations on the management and use of public investment capital, causing serious consequences” should be reduced by one or two years, while his 16-year sentence for “receiving bribes” of $2.5 million should be upheld, the Procuracy said.
Regarding former MobiFone deputy general directors Phan Thị Hoa Mai, Hồ Tuấn, Phạm Thị Phương Anh and Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng, the Procuracy said there were no grounds to consider their appeals.

For former Deputy General Director Nguyễn Bảo Long, the Procuracy assessed that he had a lesser role and was suffering from several illnesses, so proposed his prison sentence be reduced by six months.

Former Deputy General Director Nguyễn Đăng Nguyên was determined to have had the least involvement, so the Procuracy proposed his two-year prison term be changed to a suspended sentence.

The Procuracy also upheld the sentence for Hoàng Duy Quang, an employee of AMAX company. — VNS