HCMC – Irregularities in the allocation of three land lots have led to a vice chairman of Binh Thuan Province and six others being detained.
Ministry of Public Security (MPS) investigators yesterday, December 13, prosecutors from the Supreme People’s Procuracy and local law enforcement jointly searched the homes and offices of the province’s Vice Chairman Nguyen Van Phong and six other people.
Nguyen Van Phong was charged with dereliction that caused serious consequences.
The case, which involves the province’s former chairman and two former vice chairmen, is related to the allocation in 2017 of the three land lots to Tan Viet Phat 2 commercial, service and residential project in Phu Hai Ward, Phan Thiet City. The problem was the price of these lots was based on the 2013 level.
Since charges were filed against the case in February 2022, 12 people have been prosecuted, with 11 of them placed in police custody, including former Chairman of the province Nguyen Ngoc Hai and former Permanent Vice Chairman Luong Van Hai.
They were accused of violations of regulations on the management and use of State assets, which led to losses.
According to local news reports, in October 2013 the People’s Committee of Binh Thuan Province approved the auction of three land lots totaling over 92,000 square meters under the land use plan along 706B Road in Phan Thiet, with the reserve price of over VND111 billion, or VND1.2 million per square meter. 706B Road was split into two streets called Vo Nguyen Giap and Nguyen Thong.
Between 2013 and December 2015, the province’s asset auction service center made six land auction announcements but no one expressed interest. Therefore, the provincial government decided in February 2017 to allocate the three lots of land to Tan Viet Phat Company and the price was the same as the reserve price decided in October 2013.
In March 2017 the provincial government decided to take back more than 92,000 square meters of the three lots managed by the land development center and allocate it to Tan Viet Phat.
