Hanoi (VNA) - The court of Military Region 5 on January 6 opened a first-instance trial in Hanoi against former Chairman of Phuc Son Group Nguyen Van Hau, alongside ex-officials from Khanh Hoa province and Ministry of National Defence’s former officers, over breaches of land management regulations and alleged fraud tied to the redevelopment of former Nha Trang Airport site.
Defendants facing charges of “violations of land management regulations” include Nguyen Chien Thang and Le Duc Vinh, former chairmen of the Khanh Hoa provincial People’s Committee; Dao Cong Thien, former Vice Chairman; Vo Tan Thai, former Director of the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment; Hoang Viet Quang, former Maj. Gen. and former Deputy Director of the Ministry of National Defence’s Operations Department; and Nguyen Duy Cuong, former Maj. Gen. and ex-rector of the Air Force Officers’ College.
Other defendants, including Hau; Tran Huu Dinh, former Director of Nam A Investment JSC; and Nguyen Thi Hang, former Deputy CEO of Phuc Son Group, stand accused of “fraud and appropriation of property”.
The case revolves around the handling of the 238-ha former Nha Trang Airport site, a prime coastal plot along Tran Phu street previously managed by the Air Force Officers’ College.
According to the indictment, Thang, Vinh, Thien and Thai, together with officials from the ministry's agencies, handed over land to Phuc Son Group between 2015 and 2024 without Prime Ministerial approval. The actions contravened legal procedures, defied directives from the Prime Minister, and went against the coordinated stance of the ministry and Khanh Hoa authorities, leading to the illegal handover of 62.89 ha of defence land to Phuc Son Group and resulting in state losses related to defence land management and use.
Hau was full aware that the defence land at the former airport had not undergone PM-approved restructuring, had not been officially recovered or reallocated, and that the proposed Nha Trang Urban–Commercial–Service–Financial–Tourism Complex lacked an approved 1:500 detailed zoning plan, provincial recognition, on-site handover, or technical infrastructure construction permits.
At that time, Phuc Son Group was not authorised to raise capital, and the project’s offerings were ineligible for transfer to buyers for individual housing construction. Nevertheless, Hau instructed staff to market the development as fully compliant with legal requirements, initiate sales, and sign 983 land-use rights transfer contracts with 683 customers, collecting over 7.032 trillion VND (270 million USD).
In the alleged fraud scheme, Hau was identified as bearing primary responsibility as the mastermind./.
