Former chairman of Bình Dương Province People's Committee Trần Thanh Liêm at the appealing court on Wednesday. Photo tienphong.vn

HÀ NỘI — Former chairman of Bình Dương Province People's Committee Trần Thanh Liêm has had his seven-year sentence for “violating regulations on management and use of state assets, causing loss and waste” reduced to six.

The High-Level People’s Court in Hà Nội decided at the appeal hearing on Wednesday to consider the appeals of four defendants of the case of violations of land management in southern Bình Dương Province, causing losses worth hundreds of billions of đồng to the State budget.

The judges explained their decision was based on the fact that Liêm’s family paid VNĐ1 billion (US$42,319) to remedy the consequences.

During the investigation, he also confessed and repented.

In August, the Hà Nội People’s Court sentenced the former chairman of Bình Dương Province to a sentence of seven years in prison.

Trần Nguyên Vũ, former General Director of Bình Dương Corporation, also had his sentence reduced by two years to 21 years.

Vũ was sentenced to a total of 23 years in prison by the first instance court for "violating regulations on management and use of state property, causing loss and waste" and "embezzlement of property".

The court did not accept the appeals of other defendants and decided to uphold the original judgment.

Lý Thanh Châu, deputy general director of February 3 Corporation, received four years and six months in prison while Đỗ Thị Thanh Thúy, the corporation’s former chief accountant, was given 30 months in jail.

The court required the corporation to pay back more than VNĐ761 billion ($32.2 million) to the State budget and collect additional land rental fees as prescribed.

According to the original verdict, in 2003, the People's Committee of Bình Dương Province allocated land to February 2 Corporation, a State-owned enterprise in Bình Dương Province, for the development of industrial, service and industrial park projects.

The site clearance was not completed, but Nguyễn Văn Minh, chairman of the corporation, had a plan to convert 43 hectares and 145 hectares of land into a golf course, a racetrack and other services for the joint venture or the Transfer to Partners.

The projects weren’t approved, and no land use certificates were issued, but Minh ordered the signing of joint venture deals with companies in his daughter and son-in-law’s backyard to transfer two properties.

Minh and his accomplices were also accused of embezzling more than VNĐ815 billion in buying and selling shares at February 3 Corporation.

Liêm said during his appeal that he knew the land transfer and the State's stake to individuals by Minh and his accomplices was unlawful. However, he 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 more than VNĐ5 trillion ($211.5 million).  VNS