An Giang province chairman dismissed for sand mining violations

The An Giang People's Council on Tuesday dismissed Nguyen Thanh Binh, chairman of the southern Vietnam province, for violations related to the country's largest illegal sand mining scam.

The council also voted to dismiss Tran Anh Thu, vice chairman. Both had previously been arrested and expelled from the Communist Party.

Le Van Phuoc, vice chairman of the province, was assigned to run the provincial People's Committee until there is another to take over the position.

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.

The Ministry of Public Security's investigative agency on December 25 initiated legal proceedings against and arrested Binh for further investigation into his alleged crime of abusing positions while on duty in the country's largest illegal sand mining case.

He has been accused of intervening and helping Trung Hau Investment Joint Stock Company (Trung Hau 68) gain a license 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".

In the same case, the investigative agency launched legal proceedings against vice chairman Tran Anh Thu 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 on duty.

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.