The allegations claim that, after the Government Inspectorate issued Conclusion 929 and Notice of Conclusion 1103, Saigon Dai Ninh Company (SGĐN) repeatedly sent petitions to government leaders, the Minister, the Head of the Government Office, the Chief Inspector of the Government Inspectorate , and the People's Committee of Lam Dong province, requesting permission for SGĐN to continue implementing the project.

Of these, five petitions were sent to government leaders. Based on operational regulations, the Government Office only forwarded the petitions to the Government Inspectorate and the Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee for resolution within their respective jurisdictions. The petitions were not resolved due to lack of grounds, being outside the jurisdiction, being addressed to the wrong recipients, or having duplicate content, and were therefore filed away.

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Mr. Mai Tien Dung. Photo: Hoang Ha

At that time, knowing that Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri (General Director of SGDN Company) had connections with many government and government office leaders, including Mr. Mai Tien Dung, Mr. Tran Van Minh (then Deputy Chief Inspector of the Government) "advised" Mr. Tri to ask some influential individuals to intervene and assist him so that Mr. Tri could "legitimately" handle the procedures for the Dai Ninh project to have its progress extended and not be revoked.

Handwritten comments by Mr. Mai Tien Dung

Following Mr. Minh's instructions, on October 4, 2020, Mr. Tri took the application from SGDN Company to Hanoi to meet with Mr. Mai Tien Dung to discuss the fact that Mr. Tri had acquired the Dai Ninh project, but this project had been recommended for revocation according to the conclusions of the Government Inspectorate.

Mr. Tri asked Mr. Mai Tien Dung to endorse the petition, instructing Department I of the Government Office to advise and report to the Government leaders for guidance on transferring the petition from SGDN Company to the Government Inspectorate for resolution. At that time, Mr. Mai Tien Dung endorsed the petition "transfer to Department I" and assigned Ms. Tran Bich Ngoc, Head of Department I, to report and propose solutions. During the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri gave Mr. Mai Tien Dung a thank-you gift of 200 million VND.

Following Mr. Mai Tien Dung's annotation, Ms. Ngoc subsequently drafted documents from the Government Office to the Government Inspectorate, stating that, in accordance with the directives of the Government leaders, the Government Office was forwarding the petition from SGDN Company to the Government Inspectorate for consideration and resolution in accordance with the law and to provide a response to the company.

According to the indictment, because the petition from SGDN Company had not yet been resolved by the Government Inspectorate and the company had signed a contract on October 2, 2020, to acquire 100% of SGDN Company's shares for 5,000 billion VND, Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri was instructed by Mr. Minh to continue submitting a petition to the Government Office requesting that the Government leaders issue a stronger directive to the Government Inspectorate to examine, review, and resolve the petition so that the Government Inspectorate would have a basis to act.

On January 16, 2021, Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri met and had breakfast with Mr. Mai Tien Dung at the 35 Hung Vuong Guest House in Hanoi. Mr. Tri discussed with Mr. Mai Tien Dung the fact that the Dai Ninh project had been revoked according to the inspection report, and Mr. Tri reiterated that he had acquired the project and was applying for procedures to extend the project's timeline and prevent its revocation.

Mr. Tri also mentioned that he was instructed by Mr. Tran Van Minh to continue submitting the petition from SGDN Company through the Government Office, reporting and seeking guidance from the Government leaders (in charge of the Government Inspectorate) so that the Government Inspectorate would have grounds to establish an inspection team to verify the petition, amend the inspection conclusion, and allow for an extension of the project's progress.

Mr. Tri asked Mr. Dung to continue directing Department I to carry out this task. Mr. Mai Tien Dung twice wrote "transfer to Department I (for early resolution) 15/1" and "transfer to Department I" on the application dated January 12, 2021, from SGDN Company, assigning Ms. Tran Bich Ngoc to propose the solution.

As a result, Department I subsequently submitted a work resolution request on January 19, 2021, recommending that the Government leaders direct the Government Inspectorate to inspect, review, and resolve the complaints and requests of SGDN Company related to the Dai Ninh project in accordance with the law and provide a response to the enterprise. On October 21, 2021, the Government leaders agreed to the proposed content of the above-mentioned request.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate argues that the proposal, which was subsequently agreed upon by the Government leadership, to forward the petition along with instructions to the Government Inspectorate to investigate and resolve the matter in a way that benefited Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri, was illegal and laid the groundwork for a series of subsequent violations by the Government Inspectorate.