The actions of Dinh Truong Chinh, 52, former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Housing Development and Trading Joint Stock Company (HDTC), and his older brother Dinh Chi Minh, 55, General Director of HDTC, are detailed in the indictment recently completed by the Procuracy. They are charged with abuse of trust to appropriate property and embezzlement of property.

Also implicated in the case is Dinh Ngoc Thien Huong, 57, Chinh's older sister, who is accused of embezzlement but is currently a fugitive. Two other defendants are charged with the same offenses as accomplices.

The indictment states that Dinh Truong Chinh, in his capacity as Chairman of the Board of Directors of HDTC and holding a 70% controlling stake, failed to hand over land plots that the company had already contracted to transfer to four customers. Instead, he allegedly directed Dinh Chi Minh to resell these same land plots to other individuals, thereby misappropriating 199 billion VND that the original customers had paid to the company.

Bi cao Dinh Truong Chinh trong lan ra toa hoi nam ngoai. Anh:Nhat Vy

Additionally, authorities concluded that Chinh also instructed Dinh Chi Minh, Dinh Ngoc Thien Huong, broker Vo Buu, and company employee Nguyen Thi Hong Mai to draft contracts for the transfer of numerous HDTC land plots with declared sales prices lower than actual values. This practice allowed them to keep a difference of over 141.7 billion VND off-book, which was then used for personal purposes.

The Procuracy alleges that Chinh's actions constitute abuse of trust to appropriate property, under clause 4, article 175, and embezzlement of property, under point a, clause 4, article 353 of the 2015 Penal Code, amended and supplemented in 2025.

As General Director, Dinh Chi Minh allegedly knew that many land plots had been transferred by HDTC to customers before the company's equitization and that these transactions had not been legally resolved. Despite this, Minh is accused of following Dinh Truong Chinh's directives by directly negotiating sales prices with brokers and new customers. He also allegedly instructed employees to prepare transfer documents and approved the procedures for handing over land plots to new buyers. Minh assisted his younger brother in misappropriating 199 billion VND.

According to the Procuracy, Minh further aided Chinh in managing and transferring the off-book difference, assisting his younger brother in embezzling over 141.7 billion VND through acts of embezzlement.

Regarding Dinh Ngoc Thien Huong, authorities determined that between 2016 and 2018, she followed Chinh's instructions by directly signing transfer contracts for many land plots at the An Phu - An Khanh project. Huong also negotiated actual sales prices with customers, signed minutes and receipts for money, and directed the preparation of transfer documents with lower prices to conceal the off-book difference.

Concurrently, Huong directly received and managed multiple off-book payments from customers, totaling over 82.1 billion VND.

Nguyen Thi Hong Mai, an employee of HDTC, is accused of knowing that the actual sales prices were higher than those recorded in the contracts. Nevertheless, she drafted transfer documents with various prices and lent her personal account to receive money from customers, following Dinh Ngoc Thien Huong's instructions.

The investigative agency believes Mai's actions assisted Dinh Ngoc Thien Huong in misappropriating over 82.1 billion VND in off-book differences.

Vo Buu, Director of My Van Housing Investment and Development Company Limited, is accused of knowing that the actual sales prices were higher than those recorded in HDTC's contracts. Despite this, he acted as a broker, received off-contract differences from customers, transferred them to Chinh and Minh, and personally benefited. The investigative agency states that Buu assisted in misappropriating over 141.7 billion VND.

In addition to this case, in 9/2025, Dinh Truong Chinh was sentenced by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court to 13 years in prison for violating regulations on state asset management and use, causing loss and waste, related to the acquisition of prime land in central Saigon. Earlier this year, the Appellate Court of the Supreme People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City accepted Chinh's appeal, reducing his sentence to 11 years in prison.

Hai Duyen