Two suitcases of cash, penthouse gift for Ben Van Don land takeover

According to the Ministry of Public Security, the takeover of the prime Ben Van Don land plot involved bribes delivered in two suitcases, wine boxes, a Patek Philippe watch, and a promise of a penthouse.

The investigation conclusion from the Police Investigation Agency (C03) under the Ministry of Public Security regarding the case at Vietnam Rubber Group and related entities has unveiled the behind-the-scenes "project lobbying" and bribery efforts by defendants to acquire the 39-39B Ben Van Don land plot (formerly District 4), spanning over 6,200 m2.

Testimonies from key figures, including Nguyen Thi Nhu Loan (CEO of Quoc Cuong Gia Lai), Le Y Linh (Director of Viet Tin Company Limited), Dang Phuoc Dua (Chairman of Viet Tin Company), and Tran Ngoc Thuan (former General Director of Vietnam Rubber Group), detailed the flow of "dark money."

The consequence of these clandestine agreements was a loss of over 542 billion VND in state assets. The prime land plot fell into private hands and was swiftly resold, generating hundreds of billions of VND in profit.

The land plot on Ben Van Don street, adjacent to District 1, was public property managed by the General Department of Rubber (now Vietnam Rubber Group) since 1976. After several divisions, management rights were transferred to two member units, Dong Nai Rubber Corporation and Ba Ria Rubber Company, through the establishment of Phu Viet Tin Company Limited (holding 72% and 28% of the capital, respectively).

C03 determined that in December 2009, Le Quang Thung, then Acting Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam Rubber Group, proactively offered to sell this land plot to Le Y Linh due to a prior personal relationship.

To ensure a smooth acquisition, Le Y Linh and Dang Phuoc Dua, Chairman of Viet Tin Company, collaborated from the outset with a clear agreement on profit sharing and responsibilities. Linh was to receive 80% of the profits, tasked with handling the Vietnam Rubber Group (the seller). Dua was to receive 20% of the profits, responsible for managing procedures with Ho Chi Minh City authorities.

Following this division of labor, Dua initiated a campaign to "grease the wheels" of numerous Ho Chi Minh City officials at the time with cash, gifts, and promises of luxury real estate.

The existing project on the 39-39B Ben Van Don land plot. Photo: Thanh Tung

The existing project on the 39-39B Ben Van Don land plot. Photo: Thanh Tung

During the investigation, Dua testified that he approached Nguyen Thi Hong, then Vice Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, through her husband, Ho Thanh Man. After intimate dinners at their home to build a relationship, Dua gave Hong a gift bag containing 10,000 USD. Later, during Hong's housewarming in Hoc Mon district, Dua presented another 50,000 USD as "thanks" for signing the land allocation document.

The bribery extended beyond top leadership to many departments and sectors. Dua stated that he gave money and arranged a list of substantial gifts for officials, including: promising a completed penthouse and giving 60,000-70,000 USD to Nguyen Thanh Tai and Nguyen Huu Tin (both former Vice Chairmen of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee); gifting a Patek Philippe watch (market value from several billion to tens of billions of VND) along with 200 million VND to Tran Quang Vinh (Deputy Director of the Department of Finance) and promising him a "shell apartment."

Dua also claimed to have given Tran Chi Dung (Director of the Department of Planning and Architecture) 500 million VND and promised him a completed corner apartment in the project; given Nguyen Thanh Nhan (Deputy Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment) 200 million VND and promised to sell him an apartment at a preferential price in the project; and given Huynh Kim Phat (Deputy Chief of Office of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee) 200 million VND and promised to sell him an apartment at a preferential price in the project.

For Nguyen Tien Dat and Tran Hoang Quan (Chairman and Deputy Chairman of District 4 People's Committee), Dua promised each a completed apartment, while the amount Linh gave was unknown to Dua.

Later, after selling the project, Dua did not fulfill his promises to give or sell apartments to the individuals mentioned.

By 2013, the project stalled due to internal conflicts within the Linh-Dua group and a depletion of capital. This was when Loan, General Director of Quoc Cuong Gia Lai, emerged as the acquirer.

Loan's testimony at C03 indicated that she was fully aware of the project's "sensitive" legal status. Around October 2013, upon reviewing the documents, Loan knew the land originated as public property and that its previous transfer did not involve an auction. The project company at that time had not paid land use fees, had not fully paid for the capital contribution to the State, and lacked an investment certificate.

Despite acknowledging the legal risks, and seeing the potential for large profits, Loan decided on 6/12/2013 to sign an agreement to transfer 100% of the capital contribution in Phu Viet Tin for over 460 billion VND (including land use fees paid on their behalf).

In the case file, Loan's testimony confirmed an "advance payment" of 50 billion VND requested by Linh and Dua. This money was intended for "diplomatic expenses" for the leadership of Vietnam Rubber Group (then General Director Tran Ngoc Thuan) to resolve issues and complete procedures. Loan agreed and transferred the money as requested.

To acquire the remaining 1% of capital and the additional land area, Loan directly asked Pham Van Thanh (Head of Planning & Investment Department of the Group) to influence Dong Nai Rubber and Ba Ria Rubber to directly sell to Quoc Cuong Gia Lai at the old price, thus shortening the procedures.

Two suitcases, four wine boxes filled with bribes for Vietnam Rubber Group boss

With the "advance" money from Loan, Dang Phuoc Dua began making trips to deliver cash to Tran Ngoc Thuan.

The first instance was around early 2014. Dua withdrew 20 billion VND (500,000 VND denominations, approximately 40 kg), packed it into four empty Glenfarclas foreign wine boxes (measuring 33x27x35 cm). These boxes of money were then loaded into a car by Dua and driven directly to Thuan's office at the Vietnam Rubber Group headquarters.

When Thuan asked, "What's this?", Dua replied simply, "Money to thank the Group's staff," and left the cash.

The second time, in September 2014, after the transaction was completed, Dua took 25 billion VND in 500,000 VND denominations, consisting of many stacks of cash. He neatly arranged them into two black medium and large rolling suitcases (measuring 38x25x55 cm and 44x25x64 cm), then loaded them into a car and drove to Thuan's private villa in the Lan Anh area (District 2) at 9 p.m. to deliver the remaining amount.

From left: defendants Tran Ngoc Thuan; Nguyen Thi Hong; Vo Sy Luc; Tran Thoai. Photo: Ministry of Public Security

During the investigation, Tran Ngoc Thuan admitted to accepting bribes. He testified that he knew the previous capital transfer was irregular and that the partner had not made full payment. However, due to unfavorable contract clauses and the risk of the city reclaiming the land if litigation dragged on, he found himself in a difficult position.

In that context, his predecessor, Le Quang Thung, and Dang Phuoc Dua met and asked him to "facilitate" the partner to continue the project because they "had incurred many costs." Although they did not specify, he implicitly understood these were the "diplomatic expenses" Thung had previously agreed upon.

According to the former General Director of Vietnam Rubber Group, out of "deference" to Thung, who had promoted him, combined with the pressure to resolve the project and recover money for the Group, he agreed.

Regarding the 45 billion VND received from Dua (in the wine boxes and suitcases), Thuan stated that Dua claimed this was the remainder of a 2.1 million USD agreement. After receiving it, Thuan distributed 2.5 billion VND each to Vo Sy Luc (former Chairman of the Board of Members), Tran Thoai, and Pham Van Thanh. The remaining 37.5 billion VND was used by Thuan for personal purposes.

During the investigation, recognizing his wrongdoing, Thuan cooperated with his family to repay 26.6 billion VND and handed over a savings book worth 11 billion VND for authorities to freeze.

Photo: Gemine

From left: defendants Tran Ngoc Thuan; Nguyen Thi Hong; Vo Sy Luc; Tran Thoai. Photo: Ministry of Public Security

C03's investigation results showed that after the "greasing" with money and gifts, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee signed a decision to allocate the public land plot 39-39B Ben Van Don to Phu Viet Tin Company without an auction. From this point, the prime land plot officially left state management.

Seizing the opportunity, Nguyen Thi Nhu Loan (Quoc Cuong Gia Lai) spent over 460 billion VND to acquire 100% of the project company's capital contribution. Immediately after completing the "change of ownership" procedures in 2014, Loan promptly resold the entire project to a group of Novaland companies for 846 billion VND, profiting hundreds of billions of VND.

During the investigation, the defendants and their families have repaid a total of over 223 billion VND and 64,000 USD. Authorities also seized 9 land use rights assets valued at approximately 413.2 billion VND belonging to defendants Nguyen Thi Nhu Loan, Le Y Linh, and Dang Phuoc Dua.

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