Lê Thanh Thản, pictured in court on Thursday. — VNA/VNS Photo Phạm Kiên

HÀ NỘI — The Hà Nội People's Court opened a first-instance trial for Lê Thanh Thản, Chairman of Mường Thanh Group and General Director of Bemes Company who is accused of "deceiving customers".

The trial panel consisted of three individuals: one judge and two lay assessors, with Judge Lưu Ngọc Cảnh, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Court, Hà Nội People's Court, presiding. Two prosecutors from the Hà Nội People's Procuracy were assigned to exercise their prosecution and trial supervision rights during the trial.

Along with Thản, six other people are also on trial.

They are: Đỗ Văn Hưng, 55, former Chairman of Kiến Hưng People's Committee; Nguyễn Duy Uyển, 59, former Vice Chairman of Kiến Hưng People's Committee; Bùi Văn Bằng, 54, former Vice Chairman of Kiến Hưng People's Committee; Nguyễn Văn Năm, 58, former Chief of Construction Inspection, Hà Đông District; Vương Đăng Quân, born in 1955, former Deputy Chief of Construction Inspection, Hà Đông District; Mai Quang Bài, 63, former officer of Construction Inspection, Hà Đông District, all indicted by the Hà Nội People's Procuracy for the charge of "negligence of responsibility, causing serious consequences " as stipulated in Article 285, Clause 2 of the Criminal Code.

During the trial, hundreds of victims, who were customers that purchased apartments in the CT6 Kiến Hưng project (Hà Đông, Hà Nội), were present to demand their legitimate rights and interests.

According to the indictment, Thản, 73, who was the Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Bemes Company, was heavily involved. The Hà Tây People's Committee (now Hà Nội) approved the detailed construction plan of the CT6 Kiến Hưng project. However, afterward, Thản unilaterally changed the land use purpose and conducted serious planning violations without the proper authorised approval.

Specifically, with high-rise buildings, Thản directed the increase in the construction area, height of the structures, and changed their intended usage. Bemes Company also built additional apartments and an unapproved CT6C tower. In the case of low-rise buildings, Bemes Company expanded the construction land area and the number of low-rise apartments, violating the red line limit.

From March 2011, Thản instructed subordinates to disseminate deceptive information about the project's legality in order to sell illegally constructed apartments. Thản advertised that the project had been approved, the apartment designs complied with construction regulations, and the apartment prices included land usage rights.

Many customers, trusting this, signed purchase contracts with Bemes Company. In the project's contracts, Thản, in his role as General Director, personally signed with customers and committed to terms to foster their trust in submitting payment for apartments according to the construction progress. Business operations and setting apartment prices in the project were all decided by Thản.

Specifically, Thản sold 488 apartments without recognised land use rights, making illicit gains of more VNĐ480 billion (US$20.2 million). The prosecutorial authorities determined that the violations also involved the negligence of the leadership team, officials of Kiến Hưng Ward, and the construction inspection of Hà Đông District.

Specifically, Bemes Company's investment in the CT6 Kiến Hưng project included numerous severe legal violations in the fields of design, construction, supervision, and acceptance testing, to create apartments in the CT6 Kiến Hưng project that lacked the legal conditions for issuance of land titles and for residential transactions.

This misconduct occurred over an extended period, yet the aforementioned leadership team and officials did not inspect or discover violations to prevent or address them in accordance with the law, causing severe and significant damages to 488 customers.

At the investigation agency, the 488 customers who purchased apartments without being granted land titles reported that at the time of signing their purchase contracts, they were unaware that the apartments in the CT6 Kiến Hưng project were constructed contrary to the approved plan. All customers trusted that Thản had built the apartments according to the approved design. During the investigation process, the majority of the affected individuals requested support in obtaining Certificates of Land Use Rights, home ownership rights, and property rights associated with the land. Only six of the affected individuals requested to return their apartments to the Investor and demanded a total refund of over VNĐ7 billion ($295,000).

Prior to the court session, many residents of the CT6C Kiến Hưng condominium submitted petitions to relevant authorities, hoping for a thorough resolution of their rights and interests. — VNS