Hanoi (VNA) – The Hanoi People’s Court on November 13 sentenced former Vice Chairman of the Thanh Hoa provincial People’s Committee Le Duc Giang to three years in prison for violating regulations on the management and use of State assets, causing losses and wastefulness, in a case involving illegal sand mining and related offences.
After two days of hearings and deliberation, the court also handed down sentences to 10 other defendants in the case, which involved Thien An Phat Mineral Joint Stock Company and related units. The charges included violations of regulations on State asset management and use, natural resource extraction, accounting, as well as tax evasion.
Former Deputy Director of the Thanh Hoa Department of Agriculture and Environment Pham Van Hoanh received a 30-month prison sentence for the same offence as Giang. Nguyen The Hung, former head of the department’s Mineral Resources Division, and Nguyen Van Tam, a former specialist at the provincial People’s Committee Office, were given suspended sentences of 26 and 24 months, respectively.
Nguyen Xuan Tung, Director of Thien An Phat, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison for violating regulations on natural resource extraction, and four years and six months for accounting violations causing serious consequences. His combined sentence is eight years.
The remaining defendants received sentences ranging from 15 months of suspended imprisonment to seven years and six months in prison.
According to the first-instance verdict, the defendants’ offences seriously infringed State-managed land and mineral resources and caused particularly large losses to State assets.
While serving as Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, Giang was assigned to oversee the natural resources and minerals sector, as well as activities of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. He signed documents approving the transfer of mining rights at Mine No. 2 and issued a mineral extraction licence to Thien An Phat in violation of State regulations. These actions caused State losses of more than 5.1 billion VND (over 198,000 USD).
The court said Giang held the highest position among the defendants and had the authority to approve the transfer and issue the mining licence. He therefore bore greater responsibility.
The verdict also concluded that Tung had given Giang 180 million VND during the settlement of procedures for transferring mining rights and obtaining the licence.
From April to November 2023, Thien An Phat extracted more than 147,294 cubic metres of sand in its natural state, equivalent to over 165,705 cubic metres in loose volume. However, Tung and the company’s shareholders declared only 32,337 cubic metres, generating reported revenue of more than 4.9 billion VND.
The company kept revenue from the sale of more than 133,368 cubic metres of sand off its accounting books and did not declare it for tax purposes. The assessment concluded that the false declarations of extraction volumes and sales revenue caused State losses of more than 8 billion VND in taxes and fees.
The court considered several mitigating circumstances, including the defendants’ admission of wrongdoing, cooperation with investigators, remorse and voluntary compensation for the consequences./.
