An Giang province chairman arrested in sand mining scam

Nguyen Thanh Binh, chairman of the An Giang province People's Committee, was arrested Monday on charges of abusing his positions in the country's largest illegal sand mining case.

Binh was detained by the Ministry of Public Security's investigative agency for further investigation into his alleged abuse of positions and power while performing duties.

He has been accused of intervening and directing to help Trung Hau Investment Joint Stock Company (Trung Hau 68) be licensed to explore, exploit, adjust reserves and capacity, and exploit illegally a sand mine in My Hiep and Binh Phuoc Xuan communes, Cho Moi district.

The investigative agency determined that Binh's act helped the company "gain a very large amount of illicit profit, causing damage to state assets".

Binh, 59, has a doctorate in education. He used to work in An Giang's education sector, and was director of the provincial Department of Education and Training. Binh later worked as chief of Tan Chau township's Party Committee, and then vice chairman of An Giang People's Committee in the 2011-2016 term. Since May 2019, he has been chairman of the committee.

In the same case, the investigative agency had previously launched legal proceedings against Tran Anh Thu, vice chairman of An Giang People's Committee for allegedly accepting bribes of VND1.2 billion ($49,500) to create conditions for Trung Hau 68 to mine sand at excessive levels. Nguyen Viet Tri, director of the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, has also been accused of accepting bribes.

The investigative agency has launched legal proceedings against a total of 22 people, including seven former officials of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the related Monitoring Center who are now under investigation for alleged crimes of abusing positions and power while performing duties.

Le Quang Binh, board chairman and general director of Trung Hau 68, has been investigated for violating regulations on research, exploration, and exploitation of natural resources, giving bribes, and printing, circulating and trading invoices illegally.

According to the initial investigation, Trung Hau 68 was licensed by An Giang People's Committee to exploit more than 1.5 million m3 of sand to supply four works under the North-South Expressway eastern section project. The sand mine is located in My Hiep and Binh Phuoc Xuan communes, Cho Moi district.

Authorities determined that taking advantage of the granted mineral exploitation license, Trung Hau 68 chairman Le Quang Binh directed the exploitation of more than 4.7 million m3 of sand, with an estimated value of about VND253 billion ($10.44 million).

The company did not declare the value in their financial records, avoiding paying tax for the excessive exploitation of 3.2 million m3 of sand.

According to the accusations, in order to sell illegally mined sand to gain illicit profits, Binh and his accomplices used intermediary companies they established to create fake invoices. Binh said he spent a part of the sum on bribing a number of officials.