HCMC – The Hanoi City People’s Procuracy on December 29 proposed a jail term of three to four years for former Hanoi chairman Nguyen Duc Chung for his illegal interference in bidding activities at the municipal Department of Planning and Investment.
According to the procuracy, Chung’s acts affected the operations of State agencies and damaged the prestige of agencies under the Hanoi City government, the local media reported.
Besides Chung, the procuracy suggested handing down a prison term of 36-42 months each to Nguyen Van Tu, former head of the municipal Party Committee’s office who later served as former director of the municipal Department of Planning and Investment; and former deputy director of the department Nguyen Tien Hoc for allegedly violating bidding regulations, causing serious consequences.
In addition, former head of the department’s office Pham Thi Thu Huong and business director of Dong Kinh Development and Investment Co., Ltd Le Duy Tuan may stay behind bars for four to five years each.
Meanwhile, former head of the business registration office under the municipal Department of Planning and Investment Pham Thi Kim Tuyen and director of Dong Kinh Development and Investment Co., Ltd Vo Viet Hung faced a jail term of five to six years each.
The procuracy also suggested that the court ask Dong Kinh Development and Investment Co., Ltd to return VND6.6 billion. Moreover, except for Chung, the defendants were proposed to compensate VND20 billion.
According to the indictment, from 2016 to 2018, the Hanoi Department of Planning and Investment was the investor of two packages on the digitization of business registration dossiers in the city.
As the deadline approached, Nhat Cuong could not submit its dossiers on time. Nhat Cuong general director Bui Quang Huy, who has fled and is on the wanted list, proposed Chung delay the deadline by two weeks. Chung accepted the proposal.
Nhat Cuong later won two tenders but transferred them to Dong Kinh to earn nearly VND20 billion.
The violations of the defendants caused losses of over VND26 billion for the State. Huy was the mastermind behind the case, and the other defendants had the same roles, according to the procuracy.
During the judgment, only Chung claimed innocence, while the others pleaded guilty.
This is the third case in which Chung was involved. On December 11 last year, he was sentenced to five years in prison for appropriating the State’s secret files. On December 13, he got an eight-year jail term for abusing powers while performing his official duties.
