Appeal trial opened for Hanoi ex-leader accused of abusing position, power

Hanoi (VNA) – The People’s Court of Hanoi on June 20 opened an appeal trial for former Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung and other defendants involved in a case related to the purchases of water cleaning agent Redoxy 3C to purify lakes in the city that caused tens of billions of VND in damage to the State budget.

In his appeal, Chung held that the charge of “abusing position and power while performing duties” that he received in the first-instance trial was incorrect, and he appealed a petition.

Beginning the court, Chung requested the summon of representatives from the Hanoi Department of Finance, while his lawyers demanded the call in of representatives from German’s Watch Water Company, the provider of treatment technology in the project. However, the jury held that the summon is not necessary and rejected the requests.

Earlier on December 13, the court sentenced Chung to eight years in prison for “abusing position and power while performing duties”.

Chung’s two accomplices in this case, Nguyen Truong Giang, former Director of Arktic Trading and Service Co., Ltd., and Vo Tien Hung, former General Director of the Hanoi Sewerage and Sewerage One Member Limited Liability Company, were imprisoned for four years and six months, and four years, respectively, also for the same count of “abusing position and power while performing duties”.

The court also ordered Chung and Giang to pay more than 36 billion VND (1.56 million USD) in compensation to the Hanoi Sewerage Company, noting that Chung's family had paid 10 billion VND, and Giang's family had paid 1 billion VND to the Civil Judgment Execution Department of Hanoi.

According to the indictment, in 2016, the Hanoi People’s Committee directed relevant units to tackle water pollution in rivers and lakes in the city by searching for suitable advanced technologies. Defendant Nguyen Duc Chung, then Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, chose the polluted water treatment technology of Watch Water Company, and placed an order for the production of Redoxy- 3C for use in the treatment of water pollution in Hanoi.

Chung then instructed defendant Vo Tien Hung to buy Redoxy-3C product through Arktic Company, an intermediary company where Giang acted as the Director, with the intention of gaining personal profit.

The procuracy held that the actions by Chung and the others have caused serious losses totaling over 36 billion VND to the State.

The court is scheduled to last until June 22./.