Former Khanh Hoa province leaders sentenced for 'golden' land violations

Former chairmen of Khanh Hoa province Nguyen Chien Thang and Le Duc Vinh have been sentenced for a third time over violations committed while allocating land to businesses, causing loss of state assets.

Severe punishment is necessary, the provincial court stated on Monday.

After an eight-day trial, Nguyen Chien Thang, 67, was sentenced to five years and six months in prison for breaching regulations per the Penal Code on the management and use of state assets, causing loss and waste.

His accomplices, 57-year-old Le Duc Vinh, former chairman after Thang, and Dao Cong Thien, former vice chairman, both received three years and six months in prison. Vo Tan Thai, former director of Khanh Hoa's Department of Natural Resources and Environment, was sentenced to four years in prison.

According to the jury, the defendants' violations in allocating land for a property project were particularly serious, leading to a loss of nearly VND138 billion ($5.67 million) for the state, causing bad public opinion, reducing people's trust in the Party and State, affecting general land planning and construction planning for Nha Trang town and Khanh Hoa, and badly impacting the investment environment

The defendants were provincial leaders and knowledgeable about the law, but they committed mistakes. Defendant Thang was the head of the province but issued many written instructions that gave rise to violations, the jury said.

Regarding civil liability, the court noted that the 20,110 square meters of land on Tran Phu street was state property, so the defendants had acted illegally by allocating the land for the project. Thus, the land should now be handed back to the Khanh Hoa's People's Committee.

The verdict determined that in January 2013, Golden Peak Nha Trang Co., Ltd. sent a document to the People's Committee asking for permission to build a high-end trade, tourism apartment and hotel complex on a 14,000-m2 land plot on Tran Phu street. At the time, Khanh Hoa Electricity Joint Stock Company was managing and using the plot, which is in a prime location adjacent to the sea.

Two months later, Khanh Hoa chairman Nguyen Chien Thang gave in-principle approval to the proposal on the condition that the company must work with Khanh Hoa Electricity Joint Stock Company on a compensation plan.

However, the People's Committee then carried out land acquisition, site clearance, and approval of compensation and resettlement plans; and self-determined the level of compensation and support for Khanh Hoa Electricity Joint Stock Company and the Nursing Center of Central Electricity Corporation (VNCPC).

Le Duc Vinh, then vice chairman of the province, signed land recovery decisions for the project's' implementation, and documents directing compensation and handling of assets on the land. In November 2015, as chairman of the People's Committee, Vinh directed the handover of land assets to Golden Peak Nha Trang Company.

In February 2016, Thien, as vice chairman of the province, signed a decision to allocate and lease 20,110 m2 of the land to the company for 50 years to build a trade, tourism apartment and hotel complex without any auctions. Thien also approved the level of land use fee and rent.

The project investor paid VND75.9 billion ($3.12 million) to rent the land which was considered low compared to the market price at that time.

According to the court, the Golden Gate Nha Trang project was not included in planning approved by a competent state agency. According to the 2003 Land Law, the project is not important enough for the state to recover land and hand over to the investor, making the acts illegal.

Thang and his subordinates also committed violations in appointing Gold Peak Nha Trang Company to implement the project without organizing a bid to select investors.

They changed the purpose of the land use and then issued an investment certificate not in line with the approved planning.

This is the third verdict against the four former provincial leaders. In April 2022, Nguyen Chien Thang was sentenced to five years and six months in prison by the provincial court, while Le Duc Vinh and Dao Cong Thien both received four years and six months in prison for violations related to the Cuu Long Son Tu ecological project and the Vinh Trung mountain-river villa project.

In December 2022, Thang was sentenced to six years and six months in prison, while Le Duc Vinh and Thien received five years and six months in prison for violations for handing over 7,300 m2 of land in a prime location in Nha Trang town to a business at a cheap price, causing a loss of more than VND60 billion ($2.46 million) to the state.