Police are investigating allegations that a contractor, after being hired to renovate a football stadium, sold thousands of truckloads of soil.

On September 9th, Mr. Quan Vi Giang, Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Hop commune ( Nghe An province), stated that the commune's police have launched an investigation into suspected violations of the law in the renovation of the football field and upgrading of the rural road in Huong Chau hamlet. This is a case that Nghe An newspaper and radio and television recently reported on.

Accordingly, the police summoned Mr. Dang Quoc Huy - former head of Huong Chau hamlet - and Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, the contractor responsible for renovating the football field, for questioning. In addition, the police also interviewed and gathered information from households who had purchased land from this contractor.

According to locals, the football field is frequently flooded and unusable because the excavation was too deep. Photo: Tien Hung

Following reports from Nghe An Newspaper and Radio & Television, Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, in an interview with reporters, stated that he did not exploit the land illegally but acted according to a contract signed with Huong Chau hamlet. "The households who bought the land all registered through the hamlet; I didn't sell it on my own initiative," Mr. Thanh explained.

However, this contract contains no provision allowing Mr. Thanh to excavate and sell the soil during construction. According to regulations, the village committee also lacks the authority to grant permits for soil excavation.

Furthermore, the contract signed between Huong Chau hamlet and Mr. Thanh shows many signs of irregularities. The contract was signed on November 20, 2024, but in reality, construction had already begun on November 12, 2024. The contract lists Ms. Che Thi Lan, Secretary of the Huong Chau Hamlet Party Branch, as the hamlet's representative; however, in an interview with the reporter, Ms. Lan stated that she did not participate in the contract signing process.

"It wasn't until 2025, when the new village committee inspected the project, that the new village head asked for the contract. Both the old village head and Mr. Thanh said they didn't have it. Some time later, they presented this contract," Ms. Lan said.

The contract was signed between Huong Chau hamlet and the contractor. Photo: Tien Hung

Because the football field in Huong Chau hamlet is located at the foot of a hill, it has a steep slope, making it inconvenient to use. Meanwhile, many of the hamlet's internal roads are narrow. Therefore, in early November 2024, more than 100 households in the hamlet unanimously agreed to each contribute 800,000 VND to fund the renovation of the football field, lowering the surface and using the excess soil to upgrade the internal roads. However, during construction, the contractor, Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, excavated a large amount of soil and sold it.

According to residents of Huong Chau hamlet, initially the hamlet only agreed to lower the football field's surface by about 60cm; however, the contractor later lowered it to nearly 2 meters in many places. Not only did the contractor take soil from the football field, but they also went to the cemetery area and excavated hundreds of truckloads of soil to sell.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Hai, head of Huong Chau hamlet, said that when he took over the position in January 2025, the construction project was already completed. The previous hamlet head assigned him the task of collecting a total of 80 million VND from the residents to pay the contractor, as previously agreed. However, despite holding numerous meetings, the residents refused to pay, claiming that the contractor had excavated and sold excessive amounts of soil during construction.

"Regarding the quality of the construction, after the renovation, due to the deep excavation, the football field is unusable and frequently flooded. As for the amount of soil Mr. Thanh sold, it was very large. The new village committee has reviewed the situation and 18 households have confirmed that they purchased over 2,200 truckloads of soil from this contractor to raise their gardens and fill in ponds. Each truckload was sold for 220,000 dong," Mr. Hai said.

Many areas of the football field have been excavated to a depth of nearly 2 meters compared to the original ground level. Photo: Tien Hung

Regarding the reason for refusing to pay the 800,000 VND fee, Mr. Truong Duc Thanh, a resident of Huong Chau hamlet, said that the hamlet's plan only assigned the contractor to lower the football field to a depth of 60cm, but the contractor dug too deep to extract soil for sale. Seeing that the contractor had already profited hundreds of millions of VND from selling the soil, the residents refused to pay the agreed-upon fee.

Due to a lack of agreement between the villagers and Mr. Thanh, the matter dragged on. In early August, Mr. Thanh filed a complaint alleging that Huong Chau hamlet was withholding his wages.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh stated that he initially agreed with the neighborhood that after the project was completed, they would pay him 80 million VND for his labor, but they haven't paid him yet, so he filed a complaint. Regarding the accusation that he exploited the football field renovation project to excavate and sell soil to residents, Mr. Thanh claimed that this wasn't a sale, but rather the residents were only paying to help cover fuel costs. Mr. Thanh said he only charged 150,000 VND per truckload of soil as a form of support. "During the construction process, there was a small amount of excess soil, so I gave it to the residents; it's insignificant."

Source: https://baonghean.vn/cong-an-vao-cuoc-vu-nha-thau-bi-to-loi-dung-duoc-thue-cai-tao-san-bong-roi-ban-hang-nghin-xe-tai-dat-10306131.html