On the afternoon of 26/1, the 73-year-old former chief executive officer of Vietnam Cement Corporation (VICEM) responded to questioning from the Hanoi People's Court during a trial concerning irregularities that left a 27-story tower on prime land on Pham Hung street, costing 1,245 billion dong, abandoned for 11 years.

Nguyen Ngoc Anh is the second-oldest defendant in the case, after former chairman Nguyen Van Chung. He was released on bail due to several severe illnesses. He attended court in a wheelchair, carrying a bag of medicine and a water bottle. Due to his hearing impairment, the court arranged an additional seat for his lawyer to sit close and relay all questions to him. His voice was weak, and he occasionally responded with gestures or by nodding or shaking his head.

Bi cao Nguyen Ngoc Anh, cuu Tong giam doc Vicem tai toa. Anh: Danh Lam

In this case, several VICEM leaders are accused of intentionally falsifying financial indicators and using fabricated data to twice approve investments for the tower project. The total investment was initially 1,951 billion dong, later increasing to 2,743 billion dong.

The project began in May 2011, with the rough construction completed and the topping-out ceremony held in August 2015, after which it halted. The total cost incurred was approximately 1,245 billion dong. To date, the building remains unfinished and cannot be utilized.

Authorities accuse Nguyen Ngoc Anh of being aware that revenue input figures were inflated; failing to direct project appraisal according to regulations; and directly signing documents requesting approval for a project with a higher-than-actual total investment. He allegedly agreed for defendant Du Ngoc Long, former director of VICEM's project management board, to conspire with the contractor to extract a "kickback" of 5% and instructed subordinates to facilitate the company winning the bid.

At today's trial, Long testified that he "shared" the money with the company only after being instructed and approved by his superior, Nguyen Ngoc Anh. However, Nguyen Ngoc Anh denied this claim.

The court dedicated time to clarify this detail by arranging a confrontation between them.

>>List of 14 defendants

Ong Du Ngoc Long, cuu Giam doc Ban quan ly du an VICCEM. Anh: Danh Lam

Do Dinh Thu, chairman of ECON Investment and Construction Joint Stock Company, testified that he met Long to request favorable conditions and asked how he could express gratitude. Long stated his demands, but Thu claimed, "I told him that as a private company, we couldn't meet such high demands, so we agreed on 5%."

Subsequently, Long took Thu to meet Nguyen Ngoc Anh. "Long presented the matter, and Nguyen Ngoc Anh said he basically agreed and gave Long full authority to decide," the ECON chairman testified.

Denying this testimony, Nguyen Ngoc Anh stated in court, "I only said 'it's up to you two to discuss,' and I didn't hear anything specific about percentages." The presiding judge asked, "You didn't know, so how did you agree?" Nguyen Ngoc Anh replied, "I didn't say I agreed or disagreed; I didn't know the percentage."

**Not surprised by 100 million dong gifts given 100 million dong monthly salary**

Despite his denial, the former VICEM chief executive officer admitted that Long had given him money 6-7 times during Tet holidays or International Labor Day.

"I didn't know where the money came from or which contractor it was from; Long just said it was a Tet gift, a holiday greeting. The total was 800 million dong," Nguyen Ngoc Anh testified.

The presiding judge asked, "What kind of Tet gift is that large?" Nguyen Ngoc Anh explained that the money was given in multiple installments, each time 100-200 million dong, so he "was not surprised."

The presiding judge continued, "No one just gives hundreds of millions for no reason. Didn't you question it?"

Nguyen Ngoc Anh responded that 100-200 million dong was "not a large amount" given the income of VICEM officials, whose average monthly income at the time was 80-100 million dong.

Toa nha VICEM quy mo 25 tang noi va 2 tang ham de lam van phong lam viec, van phong cho thue, bo hoang tu khi xay dung. Anh: Ngoc Thanh

He affirmed that he did not instruct subordinates to facilitate ECON winning the bid. "It was just that people were spreading rumors that Nguyen Ngoc Anh had approved, and then it went through; I did not agree."

The 73-year-old former chief executive officer stated that at the time, he was unaware that ECON had many unfinished projects; he only learned about it when the investigation agency informed him. He asserted that if he had known, he would have urged ECON to complete its other projects before working for VICEM.

He sadly remarked that the prosecuting authorities had "overburdened" him with charges. He claimed he had no intention of illicit gain, believing the money was profit extracted by the company after fulfilling its obligations to the state.

Long, who acted as the intermediary for receiving money from ECON, stated that he received over 3,2 billion dong, which he then shared with Nguyen Ngoc Anh and two other former VICEM leaders. This amount was less than the agreed 5% because "we only received that much before conflicts arose, so we stopped receiving more."

Long is accused of personally benefitting from 1,9 billion dong. He admitted that when he distributed the money to the leaders, he did not specify it was from ECON, only calling it a Tet gift. He did not know if the leaders "implicitly understood" it was a kickback from the company.

In this case, Nguyen Ngoc Anh is currently facing two charges: violating state asset management and usage regulations causing losses and waste, and violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences.

Among the 13 other defendants are Le Van Chung, former chairman of VICEM's Board of Members; Ta Quang Buu, former member of the Board of Members and deputy chief executive officer of VICEM; and two former deputy chief executive officers of Vietnam National Construction Consultants Corporation (VNCC), Tran Binh Trong and Nguyen Lam Cuong.

The trial is ongoing and is expected to last several days.

Thanh Lam