Proposed sentence: 4

On June 19th, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court continued the questioning phase at the first-instance trial of 67 defendants in the case of irregularities at Thuduc House Development Joint Stock Company, the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department, and other units.

Defendant Nguyen Thi Bich Hanh (54 years old, former Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department) is being prosecuted for violating regulations on the management of state assets, causing losses and waste, under Clause 3, Article 219 of the Penal Code, which carries a penalty of 10-20 years in prison.

Defendant Nguyen Thi Bich Hanh.

At the trial, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Procuracy proposed that the court sentence defendant Hanh to 4-5 years in prison; her subordinates to 2-3 years (suspended sentence) to 4-5 years in prison; Nguyen Vu Bao Hoang (47 years old) and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Chinh (48 years old) to 8-10 years in prison; Quan Minh Tuan (60 years old) to 10-12 years in prison; Nguyen Phuong Nam to 12-13 years in prison; Dao Thi Nga to 5-6 years in prison; Ngo Huynh Luy to 3-4 years in prison; Nguyen Hung Long to 3-4 years in prison; Dang Thi Minh Chau and Tran Bao Thinh to 2-3 years in prison each, but with a suspended sentence; Dang Thi Huynh Yen and Vo Quang Lam to 3-4 years in prison each; Pham Duy Binh, Hoang Trung Kien, Ho Hoang Hai, Nguyen Duy Linh, Tran Van Thanh, and Nguyen Le Hung were all proposed by the Procuracy to receive sentences of 2-3 years in prison, but with a suspended sentence. Defendant Bui Huu Tren was sentenced to 18 to 24 months in prison, but given a suspended sentence.

According to the prosecutor's representative, the defendant Hanh directed and signed tax refund decisions for Thu Duc Housing Company for 15 periods from April 2018 to June 2019 in violation of regulations, ignoring signs of tax risks and failing to apply risk management principles in tax refund management.

In addition, the defendant also instructed the departments handling tax refunds for Thu Duc Housing Company not to fully apply the procedures and guidelines for tax refund management, causing a loss of 331 billion VND to the State.

Previously, the defendant Hanh admitted that the indictment's description of her actions was accurate and stated that she always acted according to her conscience and responsibility in her work, without self-interest.

Regarding the tax refund application for Thuduc House, as well as other tax refund applications that the defendant Hanh had to handle, the excessive workload led to some subjective errors on her part.

" At that time, I was assigned too many tasks and was also studying, so I made a mistake. I hope the court will take this into consideration," defendant Hanh said.

Defendant Nguyen Thi Bich Hanh, in her role and responsibilities as Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department, was responsible for processing tax refunds for Thuduc House starting from March 2018.

Regarding the 15 tax refund applications from Thuduc House that were subject to the "refund first, audit later" procedure (from April 2018 to June 2019), the defendant Hanh was informed of potential tax risks but did not instruct the relevant departments to conduct verification, nor did she direct the departments to exchange information and resolve the issues when there were disagreements.

Defendant Hanh ignored the risk indicators presented by officials and leaders of the Tax Declaration and Accounting Department and the Legal Department. She failed to direct timely inspections and audits, did not wait for the conclusions of the inspections and audits before deciding on tax refunds; and directly signed and approved 14 tax refund proposals (and supplementary proposals) submitted by the Tax Declaration and Accounting Department… As a result, this caused a loss of over 331 billion VND.

During the investigation, the defendant Hanh admitted to signing and approving the proposal forms, assessment forms, and tax refund decisions for Thuduc House as mentioned above, and acknowledged her shortcomings in not properly following the regulations and procedures for handling tax refund applications.

According to the indictment, from 2016 to 2020, Trinh Tien Dung (currently a fugitive) acted as the mastermind, directing his accomplices to use fraudulent methods through the production and use of counterfeit, fake, and used goods to conduct circular trading, inflating prices many times over, using forged and illegal documents from state agencies to establish and operate "ghost" companies; carrying out procedures for buying, selling, and exporting goods, and creating documents for companies such as Thuduc House, Saigon Tay Nam, and Hoang Nam Anh to purchase electronic components from companies established by Dung.

After receiving money from Thuduc House, Saigon Tay Nam, and Hoang Nam Anh companies, Mr. Trinh Tien Dung directed the money to be transferred in a circular manner to the accounts of organizations and individuals, withdrawing the entire 538 billion VND in value-added tax to embezzle it.

Defendant Nguyen Thi Bich Hanh directly signed and approved tax refund proposals, value-added tax refund decisions, and 15 orders to return budget revenue to Thuduc House, causing a loss of 331 billion VND.

In addition, the three defendants, Dao Thi Nga (former official of the District 1 Tax Department), Nguyen Phuong Nam (former official of the District 3 Tax Department), and Ngo Huynh Luy (former official of the District 5 Tax Department), received bribes totaling over 7.3 billion VND.

The case also involves seven customs officers at Saigon Port Area I (under Ho Chi Minh City Customs), who failed to properly perform their assigned duties, update information on the system for customs clearance of shipments, and did not detect the smuggling activities of Trinh Tien Dung and his accomplices.

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Source: https://vtc.vn/de-nghi-muc-an-4-5-nam-tu-voi-cuu-pho-cuc-truong-cuc-thue-tp-hcm-ar800622.html