Former transport minister prosecuted for State asset management violations
The Supreme People’s Procuracy has issued an indictment prosecuting former transport officials and their accomplices involving in the case of Dinh Ngoc He (alias “Ut troc”), who appropriated over VND725 billion (US$31.3 million) from toll collection on the HCM City-Trung Luong Expressway.
Former Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang and former Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Truong are prosecuted under the indictment.
Earlier, the investigation police agency under the Ministry of Public Security commenced legal proceedings against and made investigation conclusions on the case of “violating accounting regulations, causing serious consequences; and violating regulations on the management and use of State assets, causing waste and losses” in the bidding and toll collection of the expressway.
Thang has been identified as the mastermind of the case.
In his capacity as transport minister, Thang created conditions for Ngoc He’s company to win the bidding for expressway toll collection although Thang was aware that the company was operating at a loss and had no financial capacity.
Ngoc He used falsified documents for the bidding, and after winning it, he continued to commit fraudulent acts aiming to appropriate State assets.
According to the indictment, Thang’s deeds have constituted the crime of “violating regulations on the management and use of State assets, causing waste and losses.” He must bear the main responsibility in the case.
Truong, for his part, illegally signed relevant decisions relating to the bidding, causing losses to State property.
