This extraordinary case involves the illegal appropriation and sale of 13 publicly owned land parcels, totaling over 250,000 square meters. This area is nearly 9 times the size of Ba Dinh Square, equivalent to 35 standard soccer fields or 350 tennis courts.
On 17/9, Thanh; Le Van Duan, 35; Nguyen Hong Huy, 27; and Phan Van Tong, 34, stood trial at the TP HCM Court Branch 1 (formerly in Ba Ria - Vung Tau) on charges of fraud, forgery of official documents and seals, and use of forged documents and seals.
Pham Cong Tuyen, 59, owner of PPG Holdings in TP HCM, and his subordinate Nguyen Dai Nguyen, 50, face bribery charges.
Eleven other defendants are being tried for offenses including bribery mediation, abuse of power for personal gain, fraud, and money laundering.
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Nguyen Van Thanh (left) at court today. Photo: Truong Ha |
Nguyen Van Thanh (left) at court today. Photo: Truong Ha
According to the indictment, in September 2023, Ba Ria - Vung Tau Provincial Police received a complaint from Pham Cong Tuyen alleging that Nguyen Van Thanh and Le Thi Tham had defrauded him of 22 billion VND by selling him a plot of land they did not own.
This led to the discovery of Thanh and his accomplices' scheme to forge documents for numerous public land parcels for fraudulent sale.
Thanh contacted his friend Cao Ba Hoai, a specialist in the Information and Archives Department of the provincial Land Registration Office, and borrowed original documents for state-managed land parcels in Vung Tau under the false pretense of comparing them with his own land documents. Between July and September 2018, Hoai, exceeding his authority, repeatedly lent 55 sets of original documents to Thanh.
Thanh scanned and saved the entire collection electronically. He then purchased a color scanner and other equipment, instructing Duan, Huy, and Tong to forge 69 documents related to the ownership of 13 state-managed land parcels in Vung Tau, totaling over 250,000 square meters.
Thanh provided templates to Duan and Huy, who used scanning equipment to create the forgeries. These documents were then treated with a solution to give them an aged appearance before being stamped with counterfeit seals. Tong was tasked with forging signatures of ward and commune officials, repeatedly signing until Thanh selected the most convincing forgeries.
Between 2021 and 2022, Thanh and his accomplices sold 11 land parcels totaling over 163,000 square meters to Tuyen for 174.6 billion VND. The transactions were backdated to July 2012 to meet land ownership certificate requirements. For one parcel exceeding 6,400 square meters, Thanh provided Tuyen with six forged documents and received 10 billion VND via bank transfer, with the remainder paid through asset transfer. For the subsequent 10 parcels, Tuyen paid 38.6 billion VND via bank transfer, with the remaining 126 billion VND settled through assets.
Thanh also defrauded another individual of 1.75 billion VND through a similar land sale scheme involving debt offsetting.
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Defendant Pham Cong Tuyen during the court proceedings. Photo: Truong Ha |
Defendant Pham Cong Tuyen during the court proceedings. Photo: Truong Ha
During the investigation, authorities discovered that while investing in Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Tuyen had enlisted Nguyen Dai Nguyen, his office employee in Ba Ria City, to expedite land ownership certificates, planning changes, and other permits. Tuyen transferred a total of 45.5 billion VND to Nguyen to bribe officials. Nguyen subsequently contacted Pham Thi Kim Loan, 42, head of the one-stop shop at the Ba Ria City Land Registration Office branch, and Nguyen Quang Tu, 48, a specialist at the Ba Ria City People's Council and People's Committee Office, among others, to facilitate Tuyen's requests. These individuals then used intermediaries to bribe other officials involved in land management.
Investigators determined that Loan and Tu were unable to fulfill some of Nguyen's requests and returned over 17.5 billion VND. Nguyen then paid other individuals to handle Tuyen's land-related matters. After these payments, Nguyen retained over 16 billion VND of Tuyen's money. When Tuyen demanded the return of his funds, Nguyen repaid a total of 9.618 billion VND.
The trial is scheduled to last three days. During the morning's procedural session, several lawyers and involved parties were absent or requested a postponement. However, the court decided to proceed and stated that a postponement would be considered if necessary. The prosecution presented the indictment in the afternoon.
Truong Ha
