On 6/8, the Ca Mau Provincial People's Court held an appellate hearing in the dispute over house number 28 Phan Boi Chau Street between the plaintiff, 74-year-old Mr. Nghiep, and the defendant, Phan Van Dang (adopted son of Ms. Ho Tuyet Minh, Mr. Nghiep's former neighbor).

According to the judging council, the key evidence presented by Mr. Nghiep to prove ownership of the house was a notarized purchase agreement with Minh Hai Trading Service Company. However, this document was found to have signs of alteration. The notary office confirmed that there was no record of notarizing this contract.

Forensic technicians also determined that the document was insufficient to reach a final conclusion about the authenticity of the contract.

The appellate court also reviewed the 2004 criminal case file, which convicted Mr. Nghiep of abusing his position and power to influence others for personal gain related to the purchase of this house. The file contained statements by Mr. Nghiep regarding lending Ms. Minh money to buy the house, which were deemed unfavorable to him in this lawsuit.

Therefore, the appellate court determined that Mr. Nghiep had no basis to prove ownership of the house.

House number 28 Phan Boi Chau Street. Photo: An Minh

House number 28 Phan Boi Chau Street. Photo: An Minh

The dispute over the house between Mr. Nghiep and Mr. Dang has lasted for many years. According to the case file, Mr. Nghiep and Ms. Minh were once close neighbors. In 1993, when Ms. Minh wanted to buy a house, Mr. Nghiep introduced her to house number 28, owned by Ca Mau Trading Service Company, for the price of 26 taels of 24K gold – equivalent to 118.3 million VND.

In early 1994, Mr. Nghiep, then vice chairman of Minh Hai province (now Ca Mau province), lent Ms. Minh 50 million VND (without any supporting documents) for a down payment on the house. Ms. Minh repaid over 42 million VND, but due to her inability to continue payments, she sold the house back to him.

Mr. Nghiep then influenced the company to refund 36 million VND of the total purchase price of over 118 million VND. After paying the full amount for house number 28, Mr. Nghiep had the company issue a contract in his name and hand over all the documents on 9/6/1994. Because Ms. Minh was homeless at the time, Mr. Nghiep let her live there.

In April 2001, Mr. Nghiep was dismissed from his position. In May 2004, the Ca Mau Provincial People's Court issued a warning against him for the crime of abusing his position and power to influence others for personal gain (related to influencing the company to refund part of the house payment).

In August 2021, Ms. Minh passed away, and Mr. Dang has managed and used the house since then. Mr. Nghiep filed a lawsuit, demanding that Dang return the house and also refund 100 million VND that Dang had received from renting out the front of the house since October 2021.

At the first-instance trial in April 2024, the (former) Ca Mau City People's Court determined that the initial judgment of the Ca Mau Provincial People's Court in May 2004 showed that Ms. Minh had paid over 42 million VND for the house and transferred it to Mr. Nghiep due to insufficient funds. Mr. Nghiep then paid the remaining amount. Therefore, the judging council found sufficient grounds to conclude that house number 28 was jointly owned by Mr. Nghiep and Ms. Minh, and ordered the house to be divided according to their initial contributions. Mr. Nghiep was allocated more than 64%, and Ms. Minh nearly 36%.

The house was valued at over 4 billion VND, so Mr. Nghiep was allocated over 2.7 billion VND. Mr. Dang was allowed to manage and use the house but had to pay the aforementioned amount to Mr. Nghiep. Both parties subsequently appealed.

In September 2024, the Ca Mau Provincial People's Court held an appellate hearing and overturned the entire first-instance judgment due to procedural violations. The judgment allocated a portion of the house's value (2.7 billion VND) to Mr. Nghiep without mentioning his wife (at the time of the disputed house purchase, Mr. Nghiep was married to a woman). In addition, Mr. Nghiep sued for the entire property, not for a division of joint property, but the first-instance court divided it.

The case was then retried from the beginning, and the Ca Mau City People's Court, in its second first-instance trial, still awarded Mr. Nghiep 2.7 billion VND.

After today's hearing, Mr. Nghiep said he would request a supervisory review.

An Minh