Land irregularities bring down multiple officials

HCMC – Many high-ranking officials have been disciplined, dismissed and even prosecuted for land irregularities.

On August 15, Tran Van Nam, former secretary of the Binh Duong Province Party Committee; Tran Van Liem, former chairman of the Binh Duong People’s Committee; and ten other senior officials were brought before the People’s Court of Hanoi City for alleged violations related to 188 hectares of land, which resulted in a loss of nearly VND6,000 billion.

This is the latest case in which senior officials have been charged with breaches of land regulations.

Since early 2022, a number of former officials have faced prosecution for irregularities in land usage and administration.

Certain officials were found recklessly helping “backyard companies,” which were founded by family members or cronies of officials, to turn public land into private one, causing losses of up to thousands of billions of Vietnam dong.

Tat Thanh Cang, former vice secretary of the HCMC Party Committee, and others were convicted for breaches at residential projects in Nha Be District and the riverside residential project in District 7, resulting in a loss of VND730 billion for the State.

Le Viet Hung, former head of the Dong Nai Province Department of Natural Resources and Environment, was detained together with six other officials in the southern province for violations at the Phuoc Thai residential project.

Nguyen Ngoc Hai, former chairman of the Binh Thuan Province People’s Committee; Luong Van Hai, former vice chairman of the provincial People’s Committee; and several accomplices perpetrated breaches of land, investment, and development of commercial housing projects in the south-central province.

In the south-central province of Khanh Hoa, Nguyen Ngoc Tam, former deputy director of the Department of Finance; Tran Van Tho and Tran Quang Buu, former deputy directors of the Department of Construction; and other officials were expelled from the Party, and prosecuted for violations in the management and usage of State assets at a land project in Nha Trang City.

Phan Hoa Binh, former chairman of Vung Tau City; Truong Van Tri, former chairman of the city; and six other accomplices were convicted for land management breaches at the Metropolitan high-end residential project.

Two former chairmen of the People’s Committee of Lao Cai Province, Nguyen Thanh Duong and Le Ngoc Hung, and others were found to violate regulations on mining in the northern upland province.

In the northern province of Bac Ninh, Nguyen The Tuan, standing vice chairman of the People’s Committee of Tu Son City; Nguyen Tuan Anh, vice chairman of Yen Phong District, and other local officials were detained due to violations in public land auctions.