Tran Ngoc Linh and Nguyen Thanh Ngon (two former directors of Binh Thuan Power Company) and Huynh Tuan An (Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Tuan An Group) will be tried by the People's Court of Lam Dong Province (formerly Binh Thuan) on 23/9 for violating bidding regulations with serious consequences.

Also appearing in court are 23 other defendants, former officials and employees of EVN Binh Thuan, Tuan An Group, and 11 invoice trading companies in Long An and Ho Chi Minh City.

In addition to bid rigging, the defendants are also prosecuted for many other crimes, including: bribery, receiving bribes, violating accounting regulations with serious consequences, and illegally printing, issuing, buying, and selling invoices and state budget receipts.

This case, investigated by the Ministry of Public Security since late 2023, determined a budget loss of 50 billion VND in the bidding packages and a tax loss of over 156 billion VND.

Huynh Tuan An (left), Tran Ngoc Linh and Nguyen Thanh Ngon at the investigating agency, 12/2023. Photo: Ministry of Public Security

Huynh Tuan An (left), Tran Ngoc Linh and Nguyen Thanh Ngon at the investigating agency, 12/2023. Photo: Ministry of Public Security

A 'tacit' agreement across two directors

The indictment states that from 2017 to 2023, Linh and Ngon directed subordinates to collude with Tuan An Group employees to help Tuan An TBD Company win 25 contracts to supply materials and equipment to EVN Binh Thuan illegally through sophisticated schemes.

Previously, An met and agreed with Tran Ngoc Linh to facilitate his company winning bids to supply equipment to EVN Binh Thuan from 2017 to 2021. In return, An paid EVN Binh Thuan 5-6% outside the contract and allowed Linh to contribute 500 million VND to Tuan An Group as a strategic shareholder.

When Linh retired in 11/2021, his successor, Nguyen Thanh Ngon, continued this tacit agreement.

One month before issuing the bidding documents, EVN Binh Thuan informed Tuan An Group's personnel about the upcoming procurement needs, receiving the list of goods and technical specifications. This allowed the company to preview the items to be procured and determine which items they already had and which needed to be manufactured with pre-determined technical specifications. They added some technical parameters associated with Tuan An TBD Company's products, creating advantageous conditions for the company to "secure the bid."

Upon receiving the product list, the person in charge of Tuan An TBD Company prepared an initial price approval based on the principle that the cost of goods produced at Tuan An Long An would have a 10% profit margin set by An. Before selling to EVN Binh Thuan, Tuan An Long An Company had to sell through the Group's agents at a price increased by 20-40%. Then, the agents sold to EVN Binh Thuan, adding other costs and the profit margin according to regulations (minimum 6.5% after tax) to arrive at the selling price.

This selling price was further increased by 5-8% to create the estimated price quote from Tuan An TBD Company sent to EVN Binh Thuan. The reason given was for EVN Binh Thuan to use this quote to approve the budget. When bidding, the bid price would be about 5-8% lower than the estimated price, not affecting the profit according to the approved price list.

In addition to the quote from Tuan An TBD Company, An's subordinates also created and used false quotes from Minh Hoa Company, Minh Cuong Thinh Company, and Polymer Alpha Company. These quotes were about 5% higher than Tuan An TBD Company's quote. These companies then served as "decoy bidders."

Furthermore, EVN Binh Thuan selected some goods with specific technical characteristics and included them in the bidding documents (bid rigging), creating an advantage for Tuan An TBD Company and limiting the bidding and competition from other contractors. For example, for the group of goods purchased, products with Polymer insulation in 10 bidding packages were linked to the requirement that testing be carried out by a foreign testing agency, so very few bidders could meet this requirement.

As a result, Tuan An Group spectacularly won 25 bids at EVN Binh Thuan, virtually without competition. Through investigative experiments at Tuan An Group's manufacturing plant in Long An, the investigating agency determined that the above actions caused a loss of nearly 50 billion VND to the state budget.

Headquarters of Binh Thuan Power Company, now Lam Dong Power Company. Photo: Tu Huynh

Headquarters of Binh Thuan Power Company, now Lam Dong Power Company. Photo: Tu Huynh

EVN Binh Thuan leaders receive billions

After winning the bids, An directed subordinates to make multiple payments totaling over 10.3 billion VND to EVN Binh Thuan. Of this, the two former directors, Linh and Ngon, received bribes of over 2.3 billion VND and 1.3 billion VND, respectively. The remaining amount was used for holiday bonuses and other internal activities of EVN Binh Thuan.

In addition, to conceal actual profits, legitimize inflated prices, withdraw money for off-contract payments, and reduce taxes, An also established and directed companies within the Group to use two accounting systems simultaneously (internal and tax reporting). He also purchased 1,163 fake invoices from 11 companies to legitimize violations, causing a tax loss of over 156 billion VND.

The trial is expected to last 4 days, from 23/9 to 26/9. The Supreme People's Procuracy assigned the Lam Dong Provincial People's Procuracy to hold the right to prosecute and supervise the trial.

Khai Nguyen