On 19/9, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court resumed questioning defendant Pham Cong Tuyen, 59, owner of Pham Phuc Gia Joint Stock Company (PPG Holdings) in Ho Chi Minh City, and his subordinate Nguyen Dai Nguyen, 50, regarding bribery charges.

This complex case involves 13 state-owned land plots, totaling over 250,000 square meters, which were fraudulently sold by Nguyen Van Thanh, 43, from Vung Tau City, the mastermind behind the scheme. This area is equivalent to 35 standard soccer fields or 350 tennis courts.

According to the indictment, while conducting business in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, Tuyen opened a representative office in Ba Ria City, managed by Nguyen Dai Nguyen. He purchased 18 land plots from Thanh, totaling over 20 hectares, mostly without official titles. Concurrently, he invested in a real estate project and sand mining operations in Long Dat and Xuyen Moc.

Tuyen allegedly transferred a total of 45.5 billion VND to Nguyen to bribe officials to expedite his business dealings. Nguyen also allegedly spent an additional 5 billion VND on bribes related to two of his own land transactions.

The defendants in court. Photo: Truong Ha

The defendants in court. Photo: Truong Ha

Testifying before the court, Tuyen stated he met Nguyen during a transaction involving a 6,400+ square meter plot of land purchased from Nguyen Van Thanh. He trusted Nguyen because he presented himself as a former police officer with experience in land transactions and complex paperwork. Tuyen's goal was to have Nguyen legalize the land for project development.

The PPG Holdings Director emphasized that their relationship was purely transactional; Nguyen was not a company employee and had no contract or salary. The 45.5 billion VND transferred to Nguyen was for legal services, from obtaining land titles to developing a 1/500 scale project plan, estimated at 2% of the project value.

Tuyen claimed he only knew and trusted Nguyen, unaware of who ultimately received the money. After a prolonged period without results, he realized he had been deceived.

Conversely, Nguyen testified that his relationship with Tuyen was "both brotherly and professional." After discussing the land purchase, Tuyen offered him the position of Deputy General Director, responsible for land documentation and liaison with authorities. However, Nguyen received no official appointment, contract, or salary for four years. During this time, he personally spent over 10 billion VND on staff salaries and office rent.

"Trusting Tuyen's promise of shared profits, I worked without expecting anything in return," Nguyen stated.

Regarding the 45.5 billion VND, Nguyen testified he gave nearly 12 billion VND to Pham Thi Kim Loan, 42, Head of the One-Stop Department at the former Ba Ria City Land Registration Office, and 35 billion VND to Nguyen Quang Tu, 48, an official at the former Ba Ria City People's Committee Office.

However, Nguyen claimed "they were all fraudulent, taking the money without doing anything," asserting he did not personally profit from the PPG Holdings Director's funds.

Defendants Pham Cong Tuyen (wearing glasses) and Nguyen Van Thanh answering the court. Photo: Truong Ha

Defendants Pham Cong Tuyen (wearing glasses) and Nguyen Van Thanh answering the court. Photo: Truong Ha

Tracing the real estate tycoon's bribery money trail:

Investigators determined that after receiving money from Nguyen, Pham Thi Kim Loan transferred over 7.2 billion VND to accomplices to expedite procedures, but many applications were not processed as expected. Subsequently, she recovered over 3.5 billion VND and returned 7.2 billion VND to Nguyen. In this scheme, Loan allegedly profited nearly 4.7 billion VND.

However, Loan testified she only received nearly 500 million VND, with the remainder held by accomplices who have not yet reimbursed Nguyen.

Similarly, after receiving 35.7 billion VND, Nguyen Quang Tu transferred nearly 12 billion VND to Nguyen Van Ty, 41, to expedite procedures. Additionally, Tu gave 20,000 USD and 1.5 billion VND to two other defendants, using the rest to purchase real estate in Phu Quoc and a car.

After receiving money from Tu, Nguyen Van Ty transferred 10.5 billion VND to Dao Viet Anh, an official at the Vung Tau City Urban Management Department, to adjust the planning for eight land plots Tuyen purchased from Thanh. Viet Anh then hired an unidentified individual to modify the map, changing agricultural land to commercial and service land, and sent the falsified image to Ty.

In court, Viet Anh admitted receiving the money but claimed he had no authority to adjust the planning. He argued the 10.5 billion VND was payment for providing information to Ty and Tu over nearly two years. He used the embezzled funds for real estate investments, a house, and a car, and has not yet made restitution.

Case returned for further investigation:

After three days of proceedings, on the evening of 19/9, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court determined that several issues and details remained unclear, including: the forgery of documents by Thanh and three accomplices, Le Van Duan, 35, Nguyen Hong Huy, 27, and Phan Van Tong, 34; inconsistencies in the land transactions between Thanh and Tuyen regarding the origin of each plot and the transfer amounts; and discrepancies in the brokerage fees received.

Consequently, the court returned the case to the procuracy for further investigation.

Nguyen Viet Anh in court. Photo: Truong Ha

Nguyen Viet Anh in court. Photo: Truong Ha

In this case, the mastermind Nguyen Van Thanh is accused of colluding with accomplices since 2018 to forge 69 documents related to 13 public land plots exceeding 250,000 square meters in Vung Tau. Thanh enlisted a friend working at the Land Registration Office to obtain 55 original documents, which were then copied. He then directed the forgery of documents, seals, and official signatures.

Between 2021 and 2022, Thanh fraudulently sold 11 land plots (163,000 square meters) to Tuyen for 174.6 billion VND, receiving over 48 billion VND in cash and the remainder in assets.

The Ho Chi Minh City People's Court is prosecuting Thanh; Le Van Duan, 35; Nguyen Hong Huy, 27; and Phan Van Tong, 34, for fraud, forgery of official seals and documents, and use of forged seals and documents.

The remaining defendants are prosecuted for bribery brokerage, abuse of power for personal gain, fraud, and money laundering.

Truong Ha