Eleven defendants in AVG case file appeals

Defendants at the court (Photo: VNA)

Three defendants who have not appealed are Truong Minh Tuan (former minister of information and communication), Pham Dinh Trong (former head of the Department of Enterprise Management under the Ministry of Information and Communications), and Pham Nhat Vu (former Chairman of the AVG Board of Directors).

In their appeals, the defendants asked for clemency and reduced punishment, but none of them claimed innocence.

The Hanoi People’s Court held the first instance trial of the case from December 16 - 28, 2019.

The case involved 14 defendants, including two former ministers of information and communication, Nguyen Bac Son and Truong Minh Tuan, who were jailed for life and 16 years in prison, respectively for “receiving bribes” and “violating regulations on the management and use of public investment capital, causing serious consequences”.

Former Chairman of the Mobifone Member Council Le Nam Tra and former Mobifone General Director Cao Duy Hai were given 23-year and 14-year imprisonment sentences, respectively, for both charges.

For nine defendants on charge of “violating regulations on the management and use of public investment capital, causing serious consequences”, the court pronounced that former head of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC)’s Department of Enterprise Management Pham Dinh Trong will stay behind bars for five years; Director of the AMAX investment consultancy and valuation company Vo Van Manh three years and six months; and appraiser Hoang Duy Quang three years.

Member of the Mobifone Member Council Phan Thi Hoa Mai and Hung and three other Mobifone Deputy General Directors Pham Thi Phuong Anh, Ho Tuan and Nguyen Bao Long were sentenced to two years and six months in jail.

Mobifone Deputy General Director Nguyen Dang Nguyen got a two-year jail sentence.

Former Chairman of the AVG Board of Directors Pham Nhat Vu was given a three-year imprisonment sentence for giving bribes.

In 2015, the MIC-run MobiFone bought 95 percent of AVG for 8.9 trillion VND (382.7 million USD), many times higher than the actual value of the struggling firm. The deal caused a loss of over 6.59 trillion VND (283.3 million USD) to the State.