Former Party chief, chairman of Lam Dong province dismissed

Tran Duc Quan, former Party chief of Lam Dong, and Tran Van Hiep, chairman of the Central Highlands province, have been ousted for violations related to the $1.03 billion Dai Ninh eco-resort, trade and urban area project.

The provincial People’s Council on Friday voted to dismiss Quan, chairman of the council, and remove Hiep from the position of Lam Dong People's Committee chairman. Both had previously been arrested and expelled from the Communist Party.

Tran Duc Quan, 57, was arrested by the Ministry of Public Security's investigative agency (C03) on January 24 for further investigation into his allegedly abusing positions while on duty.

Authorities accused Quan of abusing his positions and violating the law in directing and resolving issues related to the Dai Ninh eco-resort, trade and urban area project, “causing very serious consequences”.

C03 had also detained chairman Tran Van Hiep, 58, and Nguyen Ngoc Anh, chief inspector of the province for accepting bribes.

In the same case, legal proceedings were initiated against Tran Bich Ngoc, director of the department of monitoring inspection work, resolving complaints and denunciations, preventing and combating corruption, smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods under the Government Office. She was accused of abusing her positions while on duty.

Initial investigation results showed that Ngoc took advantage of her position to go against her assigned duties and responsibilities in handling inspections and complaints about the project, causing losses to the state.

In mid-2020, when announcing the inspection results of land management-use and construction investment in Lam Dong province, the Government Inspectorate recommended terminating the operations and recovering the land from three projects that breached the laws on land and investment, including a project run by Saigon-Dai Ninh Tourism Investment Joint Stock Company.

The Dai Ninh eco-resort, trade and urban area project covers more than 3,595 hectares, of which 1,050 hectares was designated to lease forest land, with a total investment capital of VND25,243 billion ($1.03 billion). The expected implementation time was from 2010 to 2018. To date, a few temporary works have been built on the project site, but hundreds of hectares of forest have been destroyed or encroached on.

In the criminal case of Van Thinh Phat Group, this project was mentioned in the results of the investigation. In 2020, Capella Group chairman Nguyen Cao Tri spent VND2,230 billion ($90.61 million) on a 58% stake in Saigon Dai Ninh Company. Tri later agreed to sell his entire stake to Van Thinh Phat's chairwoman Truong My Lan for VND3,000 billion ($122 million). Lan then transferred deposits to Tri five times worth VND20 million and VND127 billion ($5.16 million) in total.

When Lan was arrested, Tri appropriated $40 million from her, including the money from this project and two others.

In the Van Thinh Phat Group and Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) case, Ho Chi Minh City People's Court on April 11 sentenced Truong My Lan to death for property embezzlement. For the crime of abusing trust to appropriate property, Nguyen Cao Tri, chairman cum general director of Capella Company, received eight years behind bars.

Currently, Nguyen Thai Hoc is acting Party chief of Lam Dong, while vice chairman of the province Vo Ngoc Hiep, 57, was assigned to temporarily run the provincial People’s Committee until authorities decide on new personnel.