Chairman of housing developer Muong Thanh prosecuted for deceiving customers

Le Thanh Than, chairman of Muong Thanh Group, a well-known housing and hotel chain developer, has been prosecuted for "falsely advertising an apartment project illegally built in Hanoi to sell to customers".

As chairman cum general director of Bemes Company, a unit of Muong Thanh Group, Than was prosecuted by the Hanoi People's Procuracy for deceiving customers according to Clause 2, Article 198 of the Penal Code.

The penalty frame is from VND100 million to VND500 million ($21,280) or imprisonment for 1-5 years. He has not been detained.

According to the indictment, the CT6 Kien Hung project was approved by the people's committee of Ha Tay province, now part of Hanoi, for 1/500 construction planning.

Bemes Company was then allowed by the Hanoi People's Committee to change the land use purpose, but Than, as chairman and general director of Bemes, directed the construction to seriously violate the state's construction planning.

He was accused of arbitrarily changing the land use purpose and committing serious violations of the planning approved by authorities.

Specifically, he directed to expand the construction area, increase the height of the apartment buildings, and change the use purposes. Bemes also built more apartments and developed a building named CT6C out of the approved plan.

Than was also found to have directed subordinates to advertise the project with "false information about its legality" from March 2011 in order to sell illegally built apartments.

They advertised the project as already approved, saying the design and construction had complied with the regulations on construction, and the price of the apartments included the value of the land use right.

The Hanoi People's Procuracy determined that Than had sold 488 apartments without the state's recognition of land use rights as well as ownership of houses and other land-attached assets. He was accused of making illegal profits of more than VND480 billion ($20.43 million).

The procuracy also prosecuted Nguyen Duy Uyen, former chairman of the People's Committee of Kien Hung ward, Ha Dong district, where the apartment building is located; Vuong Dang Quan, former deputy chief construction inspector of Ha Dong district; Mai Quang Bai, an officer of the district's construction order management team; and Bui Van Bang, Do Van Hung, and Nguyen Van Nam for the crime of lack of responsibility causing serious consequences per the Penal Code. The penalty frame is imprisonment for 3-12 years.