Former top cop sentenced to 15 years in jail

Phan Van Anh Vu (front row) and his accomplices at the court. - VNA/VNS Photo Van Diep

Vu, born in 1975, is a former Senior Lieutenant Colonel and deputy head of a division at the General Department V of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS).

His accomplices, Nguyen Huu Bach (born 1963, former Colonel and deputy head of Department B61 under the General Department V) and Phan Huu Tuan (born 1955, former Lieutenant General and Deputy General Director of the General Department V), each received five years imprisonment for the same charge.

For the charge of “deliberately disclosing State secrets”, the total sentences given to Bach and Tuan are 11 years and 12 years in prison, respectively. However, the total sentence for Vu has yet to be announced. He was previously given eight years in jail by the High People’s Court in Hanoi on October 31, 2018.

Meanwhile, two other accomplices of Vu, Bui Van Thanh (born 1959, former Lieutenant General and Deputy Minister of the MPS), and Tran Viet Tan (born 1955, former Senior Lieutenant General and Deputy Minister of the MPS), were sentenced to 30 months and 36 months in prison, respectively, for “showing irresponsibility, causing serious consequences".

According to the indictment of the procuracy, while operating Bac Nam 79 Construction Company and Nova Bac Nam 79 Company, Phan Van Anh Vu, under the name of the MPS, asked ministries, sectors, and local administrations to rent land to him as well as transfer to him the right to use land and property on land of public housing and land projects in prime positions in Da Nang City and HCM City, against State regulations.

He then went on to make them his own properties or those of his relatives, transferred them, or put them under shared ownership with other people to earn illegal profits. Bach and Tuan drafted, signed and submitted documents advising the General Department V to issue documents enabling Vu to commit the violations.

Under the first instance judgment, Vu, with the highest role in the case, has to bear responsibility for a loss of more than VND135 billion (US$5.8 million) to the State. Bach and Tuan caused total losses of VND132 billion. Meanwhile, with their irresponsibility, Tan’s activities led to a loss of VND36 billion, while losses caused by Thành are over VND3.5 billion.

The court also proposed that the Investigation Police Agency continue clarifying the legacy of land allocation made by authorised agencies in HCM City and Da Nang to uncover violations.