The defendants at the first-instance trial in the Hà Nội People’s Court on Tuesday. —Photo tapchitoaan.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Hà Nội People’s Court on Tuesday opened the first-instance trial of a serious corruption case involving Phúc Sơn Group JSC, which resulted in State losses of VNĐ1.16 trillion (around US$44.6 million) and implicated dozens of provincial leaders and officials.

The trial involves 41 defendants facing charges for violations linked to Phúc Sơn Group’s activities across 14 projects in Vĩnh Phúc, Phú Thọ and Quảng Ngãi provinces over a 15-year period from 2010 to 2024.

Among the 41 defendants are 16 former leaders and officials from Vĩnh Phúc Province, eight from Phúc Sơn Group JSC, five from Quảng Ngãi Province, six from Phú Thọ Province and six others.

Chairman and General Director of Phúc Sơn Group JSC Nguyễn Văn Hậu faces charges of violating accounting regulations causing serious consequences, violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences and bribery.

Nine defendants are on trial for allegedly accepting bribes. Eight others face the charge of abusing their position or power while performing official duties, and one for exploiting influence over persons in positions of power for personal gain.

Additionally, 17 individuals face charges of violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences, and five face the charge of violating accounting regulations causing serious consequences.

The Supreme People’s Procuracy described the case as "particularly serious" due to the massive financial damage caused to the State.

According to the indictment, during the implementation of various projects and bidding packages in Vĩnh Phúc, Quảng Ngãi and Phú Thọ, Hậu either directly committed violations, instructed subordinates to commit violations or colluded with other entities to breach accounting and bidding laws.

These alleged actions caused total losses of VNĐ1.16 trillion to the State, including VNĐ504 billion from accounting violations, VNĐ204 billion from improper land valuation and VNĐ459 billion from bidding violations.

Hậu’s alleged misconduct not only resulted in disciplinary action against numerous local officials, but also eroded public trust and fuelled public outrage.

Hậu has been accused of exploiting relationships, offering cash and other benefits to officials to secure illegal advantages for companies within Phúc Sơn’s business ecosystem, enabling them to win contracts and unlawfully profit from projects and tenders. In total, Hậu is accused of paying over VNĐ132 billion ($5 million) in bribes to officials in various provinces.

One of the defendants, Đặng Trung Hoành, Chief of Office of the Măng Thít District Party Committee in Vĩnh Long Province, is charged with exploiting influence over persons in positions of power for personal gain. Hoành allegedly solicited and received VNĐ700 million from Hậu under the pretence of managing Hậu’s contributions to local social welfare programmes, in exchange for reporting favourably to higher-level leaders to secure support for Hậu’s business activities.

Hoành also allegedly gained an additional VNĐ110 million from brokering land transactions for senior officials at Hậu’s request.

During the investigation, the authorities seized over VNĐ41.5 billion ($1.58 million), 534 SJC gold taels and more than $1.1 million.

Defendants and related parties have so far surrendered over VNĐ118 billion ($4.5 million) and $900,000. By the prosecution stage, they had further remitted more than VNĐ66.9 billion ($2.5 million) in restitution.

The trial is expected to last ten days. — VNS