HCM CITY — The People’s Court of HCM City on Friday announced sentences for 25 defendants accused of stealing 500,000 litres of airplane fuel from the National Airlines of Việt Nam (Vietnam Airlines).

According to the indictment, Việt Nam Air Petrol Company (Skypec) is in charge of transporting jet fuel from a number of warehouses managed by Nhà Bè Oil and Gas Company to a number of airports – Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport, Cần Thơ Airport, Buôn Ma Thuột Airport and Liên Khương Airport.

Skypec signed a contract to hire tanker trucks from four different companies to do the work.

Some drivers conspired with Đoàn Anh Dũng, Đoàn Anh Vũ, Đoàn Anh Kiệt, Huỳnh Minh Dũng and Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Tuyền to steal some of the fuel they were charged with transporting.

From 2016 to March 2017, Huỳnh Minh Dũng and Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Tuyền and some drivers stole 218,310 litres of fuel and sold it to Trần Văn Tình for more than VNĐ3.5 billion (US$155,000).

Đoàn Anh Dũng, Đoàn Anh Vũ and Đoàn Anh Kiệt stole 190,000 litres of Jet-A1 fuel and 66,000 litres of DO oil and sold it to Nguyễn Quang Đức for VNĐ4 billion ($177,000).

Also during this time, 12 drivers stole tens of thousands of litres of fuel on a number of occasions.

In total, some 500,000 litres of aviation fuel was stolen.

Đoàn Anh Dũng was sentenced to 12 years in jail for theft of property; Đoàn Anh Vũ six years, Đoàn Anh Kiệt seven years, Nguyễn Quang Đức 12 years, Huỳnh Minh Dũng 10 years and Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Tuyền seven years, for the same crime.

Nineteen other defendants in the ring were sentenced to between one and eight years in jail.

They were also instructed to return the financial proceeds from the crime to the State. — VNS