How was former market management official Tran Hung accused of accepting bribes?

On May 31st, the Hanoi People's Court will hold the first-instance trial for a case involving a massive counterfeit textbook production ring.

36 defendants appeared in court, including Tran Hung, who was prosecuted for bribery; Cao Thi Minh Thuan, Director of Phu Hung Phat Company, and Nguyen Manh Ha, Deputy Director of Hanoi Printing Joint Stock Company, who were prosecuted for producing and trading counterfeit goods; and Nguyen Duy Hai (a freelance worker), who was prosecuted for brokering bribery.

Mr. Tran Hung, former Head of Team 304 (General Department of Market Management)

The indictment states that from the beginning of the year to June 2021, defendant Cao Thi Minh Thuan and her accomplices organized the production of nearly 9.5 million counterfeit textbooks of various types, with a total cover value of over 260 billion VND. The defendants sold more than 6.3 million books, with a total cover value of over 164 billion VND, an actual selling price of over 73 billion VND, and received over 30 billion VND in payments.

During the commission of the crime, defendant Thuan and defendant Ha repeatedly gave money to Mr. Tran Hung and several market management officials to ask for their help when they were being penalized for violations.

Instructions on how to change testimony to avoid criminal prosecution?

According to the Supreme People's Procuratorate, in early July 2020, after receiving information, as the head of Team 304, Mr. Tran Hung directed the professional department under the General Department of Market Management to coordinate with the Hanoi Market Management Department and Market Management Team No. 17 to inspect a book warehouse in Hoang Mai District (Hanoi), due to suspicion of containing many counterfeit textbooks.

As a result, Market Management Team No. 17 discovered and seized over 27,000 books without invoices or proof of origin that were being stored by Phu Hung Phat Company. Mr. Tran Hung subsequently issued a directive to his subordinates at Team 304 to monitor the investigation into the methods used by Phu Hung Phat Company in selling counterfeit textbooks, emphasizing that a meeting with Team 304 was necessary before reaching a conclusion.

Knowing that Mr. Hung was the direct in charge, Ms. Cao Thi Minh Thuan sent text messages and made phone calls seeking his help and guidance in handling her case leniently. Mr. Hung said he "agreed to forgive" her, but on the condition that Ms. Thuan point out several illegal book printing facilities.

Next, Ms. Thuan discussed with Nguyen Manh Ha the possibility of meeting with Nguyen Duy Hai (who regularly provided information to Mr. Tran Hung) to ask Hai to influence Mr. Tran Hung. The three agreed to pay Mr. Hung 400 million VND.

A warehouse containing counterfeit books belonging to Phu Hung Phat Company.

On July 14, 2020, Hai met with Mr. Tran Hung and two members of Team 304, proposing that Ms. Thuan drop the case and that he would send Mr. Hung and Team 304 400 million VND. Mr. Hung instructed Hai to tell Ms. Thuan to change her statement about the origin of the textbooks, claiming they were consigned by someone else and not purchased by Ms. Thuan. Mr. Hung also telephoned Mr. Le Viet Phuong, Deputy Team Leader of Market Management Team No. 17, to assist Ms. Thuan by handling the case only administratively.

Following Mr. Hung's instructions, Ms. Thuan changed her testimony regarding the origin of the textbooks. Mr. Phuong instructed the inspector of Market Management Team No. 17 to record in the minutes of the meeting that "these books were consigned by someone else; Ms. Thuan did not know whether they were genuine or fake."

On August 12, 2020, the Hanoi Market Management Department held a consultative council meeting to determine the course of action, with the participation of market management forces, police, and the procuratorate. Based on the report from Market Management Team No. 17, the meeting unanimously agreed that the origin of the seized books could not be determined, there was insufficient evidence to determine whether Ms. Thuan knew the goods were genuine or counterfeit, and since the books had not yet been circulated on the market, no consequences had occurred, thus not constituting a criminal offense…

A week later, the Hanoi Market Management Department issued an administrative fine of 50 million VND against Phu Hung Phat Company. Before, during, and after the violation was processed, Ms. Thuan repeatedly gave money to Mr. Phuong and Market Management Team No. 17, totaling 330 million VND. Mr. Phuong distributed the money to two subordinates, giving one 5 million VND and the other 6 million VND.

Mr. Tran Hung denies receiving bribes.

According to the indictment, on the morning of July 15, 2020, Nguyen Duy Hai took 300 million VND (money given by Cao Thi Minh Thuan to Nguyen Manh Ha, who then gave it to Hai, contained in a black plastic bag) to Mr. Tran Hung's office. There, Hai met Mr. Hung and two members of Team 304, told Ms. Thuan to give him the 300 million VND upfront, and gave the bag of money to Mr. Hung. However, Mr. Tran Hung told him to keep it.

Seeing this, Hai called Mrs. Thuan and then handed the phone to Mr. Hung. Mr. Hung continued to instruct Mrs. Thuan to change her statement about the origin of the seized books. Afterwards, Mr. Hung said he had something to do and asked two members of Team 304 to take Hai to lunch. Hai took the bag of money with him to lunch.

Later that afternoon, after finishing their meal, Hai took the bag of money and followed two members of Team 304 back to the General Department of Market Management. Hai went to Mr. Tran Hung's office through the back door and gave him 300 million dong.

The group of defendants are former officers of Market Management Team No. 17.

During the investigation, Mr. Tran Hung did not admit to the crime. However, the Supreme People's Procuratorate affirmed that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute the defendant for the crime of accepting bribes.

Accordingly, the Investigation Police Department of the Ministry of Public Security seized the defendants' telegrams and extracted electronic data seized from Mr. Tran Hung's phone, determining that the defendants and those involved in the case had contact and exchanged information during the process of resolving the Phu Hung Phat Company case.

The investigating agency also requested expert analysis to determine the content and voices of Mr. Hung, Nguyen Duy Hai, Cao Thi Minh Thuan, and Le Viet Phuong in the audio files seized from Mr. Hung's phone and hard drive. The expert analysis concluded that the voices of this group were present in the files submitted for analysis.

Furthermore, although Mr. Tran Hung denied it, the defendant Hai confessed, and Hai's testimony matched the results of the investigative experiment and described the process of Hai walking from the General Department of Market Management's entrance to Mr. Hung's office to deliver 300 million VND.

Furthermore, the charges were based on the testimonies of defendants Thuan and Phuong, members of Team 304; the confrontation record between Mr. Hung and the group of Hai, Thuan, and Phuong; and a diagram drawn by Hai identifying the location where Hai gave money to Mr. Hung…

"In fact, the case was not transferred to the investigative agency for handling according to its jurisdiction but was handled administratively; therefore, Tran Hung's testimony has no basis for acceptance," the indictment stated.

The prosecuting authorities determined that the actions of defendant Cao Thi Minh Thuan showed signs of bribery, and Nguyen Manh Ha showed signs of brokering bribery, but due to their active cooperation and proactive reporting before being discovered, they were exempted from criminal liability. The two defendants were only prosecuted for the crime of producing and trading counterfeit goods.

Regarding defendant Le Viet Phuong and several officers of Market Management Team No. 17, although the case of Phu Hung Phat Company had sufficient grounds for referral to the investigative agency, this group instead compiled a file and report proposing administrative handling, thereby receiving 310 million VND as a thank-you gift from Cao Thi Minh Thuan. The defendants are prosecuted for abusing their positions and authority while performing their official duties.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/cuu-can-bo-qltt-tran-hung-bi-cao-buoc-nhan-hoi-lo-nhu-the-nao-185230527170607048.htm