Hoang Van Thang and four other defendants have been proposed for prosecution by the Police Department for Economic, Corruption, and Smuggling Crimes (C03) under the Ministry of Public Security on charges of receiving bribes.

Thang previously worked at the Institute of Water Resources Science before joining the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2007. In August 2010, while serving as Director of the Construction Management Department, he was appointed Deputy Minister. After nearly two terms, he retired in early 2019. The former Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has since merged with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, now known as the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.

In the same case, Nguyen Van Dan, former director of Hoang Dan Company, faces three charges: violating accounting regulations causing serious consequences, violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences, and giving bribes. The remaining 17 individuals are proposed for prosecution for violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences or violating accounting regulations causing serious consequences.

Former Deputy Minister Hoang Van Thang. Photo: National Assembly Media

According to the findings, due to a pre-existing relationship, Dan colluded and agreed to pay money to leaders of the former Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Construction Management Department to "pave the way" for easier dealings with lower-level officials. Additionally, Dan agreed to pay directors of subordinate steering committees to receive tender documents and data before their official release.

This arrangement facilitated Hoang Dan Company and its joint ventures in winning 5 packages across four projects. Specifically, for packages 13 and 17 of the Krong Pach Thuong lake project, Hoang Dan used illicit means to participate in and win the bids, causing 72,8 billion VND in damages to state assets.

For package 36 of the Ban Mong lake project, Dan received 8 billion VND from a joint venture to illegally transfer the bid, thereby gaining illicit profits. Irregularities in this project caused 51,4 billion VND in damages to state assets.

Regarding package 21 of the Ban Lai lake project, the joint venture of Hoang Dan and Song Da 5 Company allegedly bribed officials to win the tender, resulting in 111,3 billion VND in damages to state assets.

For package 17 of the Canh Tang lake project, Dan led the formation of the Hoang Dan - Truong Son - Thuy Loi 4 joint venture, which won the bid, causing 16 billion VND in damages.

Nguyen Van Dan and several other defendants in the case. Photo: Ministry of Public Security

According to C03, Dan is accused of causing a total of nearly 252 billion VND in damages to state assets across 5 packages in four projects. To secure these bid wins, Dan allegedly paid 40 billion VND in bribes.

Additionally, Dan is accused of purchasing nearly 2,500 fictitious invoices and selling 125 of them, valued at 641 billion VND. These actions caused nearly 100 billion VND in tax damages to the state budget.

Among those accused of receiving bribes, C03 alleges that former Deputy Minister Thang received USD 200,000 (approximately 4,5 billion VND). These payments were reportedly linked to package 36 of the Ban Mong project and included several instances of receiving money during holidays.

Other officials accused of receiving bribes include Tran To Nghi, former acting director of the Ministry of Agriculture's Construction Management Department, who received 13 billion VND. Nguyen Hai Thanh, Nghi's deputy director, received 6,25 billion VND. Tran Van Lang, former director of Board 2, received 13,4 billion VND. Le Van Hien, director of Board 8, received 3 billion VND.