Former Secretary of the Party Committee of the southern province of Bình Dương Trần Văn Nam at the court on Monday. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Hanoi People’s Court opened a trial yesterday for 28 individuals in a case of violations of land management and misuse of regulations in the southern province of Bình Dương, causing losses worth trillions of đồng to the State budget.

The defendants include 59-year-old Trần Văn Nam, also known as Trần Quốc Tuấn, former Secretary of the Party Committee and former Vice Chairman and former Chairman of People’s Committee of Bình Dương province, and 12 others who are also former officials and leaders of the locality.

They were prosecuted by the Supreme People’s Procuracy for “violating regulations on managing and using State assets, causing losses and wastefulness” in line with Article 219, Clause 3 of the 2015 Penal Code.

Among the remaining 15, who once worked or are working for export-import and real estate firms in Bình Dương, three are charged with “violating regulations on managing and using State assets, causing losses and wastefulness” and “property embezzlement,” nine with “violating regulations on managing and using State assets, causing losses and wastefulness,” and three with “property embezzlement.”

Of the 28 defendants, 26 were present at the court, while two others were absent due to recent childbirth and health reasons.

According to the indictment, Trần Văn Nam who was Vice Chairman and then Chairman of People’s Committee of Bình Dương from July 2020 to December 2015, and Secretary of the provincial Party Committee in the 2015-2020 tenure; Trần Thanh Liêm who was Chairman of the People’s Committee from October 2015 to October 2020; Phạm Văn Cảnh who was Standing Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee from December 2013 to November 2018; and Nguyễn Văn Minh, Chairman of the Council of Members and General Director of Bình Dương Producing and Trading Corporation (Protrade Corp) from August 2010 to June 2017, deliberately violated legal regulations on capital and asset management, causing huge losses to the State.

Specifically, although Nam knew that the proposal to apply the average land price in 2006 to collect land use levy under land allocation regulations in 2012 and 2013 was illegal, he still issued a document on land use levy collection from Protrade Corp, causing a loss of more than VNĐ716 billion (US$30.6 million) to the State.

Other former provincial leaders knew that the transfer of 43 hectares of land and the State's 30 per cent stake in Tân Phú Company to individuals by Minh and his accomplices was unlawful. However, they still legalised procedures to enable Minh to complete the transfer of State assets to a company founded by his son-in-law and sold to another private company, causing a loss of nearly VNĐ985 billion.

The defendants also breached the rule when failing to verify the value of a 145-ha land lot during the process of equitisation, enabling Minh and other accomplices to cause a loss of over VNĐ4.03 trillion to the State.

The indictment said Nam must bear the main responsibility for his wrong decisions and instructions that resulted in heavy damage to the State asset, while Minh is the culprit.

The trial is expected to last for 20 days. VNS