The Supreme People's Procuracy outlined Hung's actions in a newly issued indictment, charging him with "violations of bidding regulations causing serious consequences." Facing the same charges are Nguyen Van Thao, former director of Bac Giang's Project Management Board; Tran Viet Cuong, former director of Tuyen Quang's Project Management Board; and several defendants from the Vietnam Road Administration, former Ministry of Transport.

In the same case, Le O Pich, former vice chairman of Bac Giang Province's People's Committee, is the only one charged with "abuse of power." The defendants will be tried at the Hanoi People's Court.

According to the indictment, Thuan An Group Joint Stock Company was established in 2004 with a charter capital of 800 billion VND, chaired by Nguyen Duy Hung. Hung then allegedly leveraged close relationships with several individuals described as "high-ranking officials in state agencies" to connect with local leaders and officials from the former Ministry of Transport to win bids.

Thuan An Group chairman Nguyen Duy Hung at the time of his arrest. Photo: *Ministry of Public Security*

The procuracy determined that due to a prior acquaintance, Hung, in mid-2020, asked Pham Thai Ha, then assistant to the Hanoi Party Committee Secretary, to introduce him to Pham Hoang Tuan, director of the Hanoi Project Management Board. Hung's aim was to secure Thuan An's participation in the Vinh Tuy 2 bridge project.

Knowing Hung "had connections with high-ranking officials," Tuan agreed a few days later and said he would instruct his staff to facilitate Thuan An's bid. After receiving confirmation, Tuan directed two deputy directors and the head of Supervision Department 2 to "assist" Thuan An.

However, Thuan An Group only took on 70% of the project, leaving the remaining 30% to Cau 7 Thang Long Company. With assistance from Hanoi Project Management Board officials, the consortium of the two companies won the bid, valued at 289.8 billion VND.

To express gratitude for the assistance in winning the bid and payment approvals, Hung directed subordinates to make payments to individuals at the project management board based on percentages. The director received 1% of the bid value, the deputy director in charge of payments received 1% of the pre-tax payment amount, the direct inspection unit received 2%, the supervisory consultancy team 0.5%, and the on-site team 0.1%.

According to the indictment, this scheme resulted in the Thuan An and Cau 7 Thang Long consortium paying a total of 12 billion VND to individuals at the project management board. Tuan received 2 billion VND, Deputy Director Nguyen Chi Cuong received 2 billion VND, Project Management Board Director Pham Van Duan received 2.32 billion VND, and several department heads and deputies received between 1.1 and 1.7 billion VND.

During construction, to offset these costs, Hung colluded with 4 construction and material supply units, collecting 9.2 billion VND in inflated costs. This amount was included in the acceptance documents and paid by the investor.

Pham Thai Ha at the investigative agency. *Photo: Ministry of Public Security*

Over a year later, in 12/2021, again leveraging his close relationship with Ha, Hung requested assistance in securing the Dong Viet bridge project. At this time, Ha was an assistant to the National Assembly Chairman and deputy director of the National Assembly Office.

At a dinner with the Bac Giang Provincial Standing Committee at the National Assembly Chairman's residence in late 12/2021, Ha introduced Hung to the Bac Giang Provincial Party Secretary. Ha stated, "Thuan An is a capable unit. I ask you to consider allowing them to participate in the Dong Viet bridge project."

After winning the bid, Hung and Nguyen Van Thao, director of the Bac Giang Project Management Board, agreed that Thuan An would, on behalf of the consortium, pay a "facilitation fee" of 3% of the pre-tax bid value to the project management board. To cover this, Hung collected a total of 92 billion VND from the consortium members.

Following advances, acceptance procedures, payments, and extra-contractual collections from subcontractors, Hung directed subordinates to deliver a total of 11 billion VND to Thao in six installments and 3.75 billion VND to Dam Van Cuong in five installments. After receiving the money, Thao gave then-Vice Chairman of Bac Giang, Le O Pich, 3 billion VND in four installments and kept 8 billion VND for personal expenses. Hung also directly gave Pich one billion VND in his office to ensure favorable conditions during construction, acceptance, and payment processes.

Hung delivered 500 million VND to Ha's residence as a thank you for his role as intermediary. The indictment also notes that Hung gave Ha an additional 250 million VND on various holidays and Tet occasions.

"Facilitation fee" scheme

In addition to the two projects above, the procuracy identified bidding violations by Thuan An in three other projects: the Tuyen Quang - Phu Tho expressway, the Ha Long - Dong Trieu riverside road (Quang Ninh), and National Highway 14E. A series of violations by numerous officials at project management boards in Hanoi, Bac Giang, Tuyen Quang, Quang Ninh, and the Vietnam Road Administration are linked to Hung.

During these projects, Hung established a system of payments to state officials to expedite acceptance and payment procedures. The Thuan An Group chairman is accused of causing losses to state assets exceeding 120 billion VND.

Some of the defendants in the case. *Photo: Ministry of Public Security*

At the Vietnam Road Administration, Hung maintained a close personal relationship with Director Nguyen Quang Huy. To secure the National Highway 14E project, they agreed that Thuan An would pay a "facilitation fee" to Project Management Board 4 equivalent to 5% of the pre-tax contract value, with 0.6% going to the head of the Road Construction Management Sub-department and 0.6% to the leadership of the Vietnam Road Administration.

During the appraisal and approval of the designs and cost estimates for two bidding packages of National Highway 14E, Hung met with and gave 1.2 billion VND to Vu Hai Tung, head of the Road Construction Management Sub-department.

Before the approval of the revised bidding documents for the second round, Hung directed subordinates to give Tung 1.3 billion VND. This bribe was intended to secure Tung's signature on the appraisal report submitted to the Vietnam Road Administration for approval of the revised budget.

During the construction phase of the two bidding packages, from 4/2022 to 1/2024, Huy personally benefited by 8.6 billion VND. Additionally, in 1/2023, Hung directed subordinates to give Tung 2.15 billion VND, bringing the total amount Tung received to 4.65 billion VND.

According to the indictment, during the investigation phase, 10.1 billion VND and 30,000 USD were seized from the defendants and related individuals, who voluntarily paid 116 billion VND and 100,000 USD in restitution. During the prosecution phase, the defendants paid an additional 500 million VND in restitution. Authorities also froze seven accounts and savings books belonging to Hung, worth 32.4 billion VND, for restitution purposes.

=>> List of 29 defendants