Former Hanoi People’s Committee chairman Nguyen Duc Chung was brought to trial on December 27 on a charge of “abusing position and power while performing duties”.
The case involved illegal interference in bidding activities, enabling the Nhat Cuong company to win contracts.
According to the indictment, Chung abused his position and power to illegally interfere in bidding activities for a deal on the digitisation of business registration documents in 2016 at the Vietnamese capital’s Department of Planning and Investment.
Later, he asked the department to allow the company to pilot digitalisation of the bidding package for the personal purpose of making the company win the bid and enjoy the benefits, causing losses of more than 26.5 billion dong ($1.16 million) to the state budget.
Notably, the Minh Hoa company led by Nguyen Thi Truc Chi Hoa, Chung’s wife, signed a contract with Nhat Cuong to enable the company’s joint venture with Dong Kinh to validate its bidding dossier and win the bid.
Six other defendants in the case were prosecuted for violating bidding regulations, causing serious consequences, in accordance with Article 222 of the Penal Code.
They were former Hanoi Department of Planning and Investment directors Nguyen Tien Hoc and Nguyen Van Tu, the latter who also served as municipal Communist Party of Vietnam Committee office chief; and former department office chief Pham Thi Thu Hong.
The other three were Pham Thi Kim Tuyen, former head of the department’s business registration office, and Dong Kinh Development and Investment Co director Vo Viet Hung and business director Le Duy Tuan.
The trial is scheduled to last five days.
Chung is currently serving a five-year sentence for appropriating secret state files related to Nhat Cuong Mobile’s accounting irregularities, smuggling and money laundering.
Earlier this month, the former Chairman of Hanoi People’s Committee was sentenced by Hanoi People’s Court to eight years in jail over the illegal purchase of the water cleaning agent Redoxy 3C for the capital city.
VIET NAM NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
