On the afternoon of 25/3/2025, after over a day of questioning, the People's Procuracy announced its indictment and proposed sentences for former principal Nguyen Thi Binh and a 36-month suspended sentence for former accountant Pham Thi Nguyet. Both were prosecuted for abusing their positions and power while performing public duties.

As parents did not request compensation, the People's Procuracy did not ask the court to compel the two defendants to return the illegally collected money. If other parents request it later, their claims will be addressed in a separate civil case.

Defendant Nguyen Thi Binh, former principal of Ba Dinh Secondary School. Photo: Danh Lam

The People's Procuracy stated that tutoring is a pressing issue for parents and students. The defendants committed crimes for personal gain, eroding trust among parents. Therefore, strict sentencing is necessary to restore public confidence.

In this misconduct, former principal Binh was identified as the mastermind, playing the primary role. She exploited state policies on tutoring to appropriate tuition fees from parents. Defendant Nguyet actively assisted, falsifying records and documents to evade scrutiny from management levels.

Despite Ms. Binh's denial of the accusations, the People's Procuracy affirmed that statements and evidence substantiate the prosecution, correctly identifying the individuals and their crimes.

The prosecution noted Ms. Binh's lack of candor and failure to remedy the consequences. However, it acknowledged her court testimony that the tuition fees were flexibly agreed upon between parents and the school. Class divisions were intended to benefit students. The incident occurred a long time ago, and the defendant also contributed to the school.

Based on this analysis, the People's Procuracy recommended a sentence of 4-5 years in prison for the former principal.

The defendants are being prosecuted under Clause 3, Article 356 of the Penal Code, which carries a sentence of 10 to 15 years.

Representative of the People's Procuracy at court. Photo: Danh Lam

Ms. Binh is accused that in 2013, despite knowing Ha Noi regulations on tutoring, which allowed fees to be agreed upon with parents, ranging from 6,000-26,000 dong per student per period, she instructed teachers to collect 15,000 dong. For classes with 20-40 students, the corresponding fees should have been 7,000-9,000 dong. She also directed the cashier to maintain two accounting systems to avoid district inspections.

According to city regulations, 70% of collected money was for direct teacher remuneration, 15% for management, and 15% for electricity, water, and facilities.

The People's Procuracy determined that the school collected over 2,1 billion dong from tutoring, with over one billion dong collected in excess of regulations. This amount is identified as the loss incurred by parents.

Of the 30% submitted to the school (327 million dong), half was allocated to facilities and half to management. Specifically, the principal received 72 million dong, the accountant and two vice principals each received 28 million dong, and the cashier received 11 million dong.

The remaining 70% of the collected funds, totaling 766 million dong, was paid directly to tutoring teachers and homeroom teachers.

At the trial, Ms. Binh pleaded not guilty, asserting that tuition fees were collected by agreement with parents and in accordance with pedagogical methods, for the benefit of students.

Some parents whose children attended tutoring during this period were present at the trial as individuals with related rights and obligations. They argued that prosecuting the former principal was "unnecessary" because parents who questioned the fees had been informed of the policy and had agreed.

The Trial Panel also summoned the investigator to clarify certain details related to the investigation. The investigator confirmed that the method for determining the amount of damages in the case was outlined in the investigation conclusions and calculated according to regulations.

The trial is continuing with the arguments phase.

Hai Thu