On 12/1, the People's Court of Hue City opened the trial for Le Anh Phuong (52, former director of Hue University, former rector of Hue University of Education) and Nguyen Van Vinh (former deputy head of the postgraduate training department at Hue University of Education). They face charges of abusing position and power to appropriate assets.

Le Anh Phuong (left) and Nguyen Van Vinh in court. Photo: Vo Thanh

According to the indictment, Hue University of Education ran two postgraduate courses, K29 and K30, in 2020 and 2021. To meet graduation requirements, students needed a B1 English certificate or certification.

Hue University of Education was not authorized to train or administer this certificate. However, Phuong, as rector, still instructed Vinh to collect applications and fees from students at 7,5 million VND per person. This amount exceeded the 4,9 million VND fee set by Hue University of Foreign Languages, the authorized testing body.

Previously, Hue University of Foreign Languages organized review courses and B1 certificate exams for a total cost of 4,9 million VND per student, comprising 3,7 million VND for review and 1,2 million VND for the exam fee. Phan Thanh Tien, deputy head of the training department at Hue University of Foreign Languages, was tasked with promoting this to member universities.

In 2020, Tien discussed and agreed with Phuong that Hue University of Foreign Languages would allocate 30% of the review course fees to support Hue University of Education.

Authorities accuse Vinh of collecting a total of 2,79 billion VND from 372 students in course K29 and over 5 billion VND from 678 students in course K30. Vinh transferred over 5,1 billion VND to Hue University of Foreign Languages, retaining more than 2,7 billion VND from the overcharged fees.

From the overcharged funds and the more than 1,1 billion VND (the 30% support allocation), Phuong and Vinh spent over 759 million VND on remuneration for individuals assisting with collection. Of the remaining amount, Phuong profited by over 3 billion VND, and Vinh by over 64 million VND.

In court this morning, due to the absence of witnesses and victims, the trial panel postponed the hearing.

Vo Thanh