Former pharma firm chairwoman gets 3-year imprisonment for land auction violations

Nguyen Thi Loan, former chairwoman of Vimedimex Medi - Pharma JSC (VMD), was sentenced to three years in prison and fined VND40 million ($1,609) on Wednesday for “violating regulations on asset auction activities”.

The Hanoi People’s Court also handed down sentences to 10 others for violations in an auction of 1.6 hectares of land in Hanoi’s outlying district of Dong Anh.

Among them, Nguyen Quang Hung, deputy general director of Vimedimex, got 18 months behind bars; while Nguyen Thi Dieu Linh, general director of Hanoi Valuation and Investment JSC, and Tran Cong Tuyen, head of site clearance and infrastructure management at the Project Management Unit (PMU) of Dong Anh district, received 24 months in probation each.

Ta Thi Van, general director of Bac Tu Liem Real Estate JSC; Nguyen Xuan Duc, deputy general director of My Dinh Real Estate JSC; Nguyen Ngoc Thang, deputy general director of Hanoi Valuation and Investment JSC; Nguyen Duc Phuong, an appraiser of Hanoi Valuation and Investment JSC; and Vuong Thi Thu Thuy, an official of the district PMU, were given 15-month probations.

The eight defendants were convicted of “violating regulations on asset auction activities”.

Meanwhile, Bui Thanh Huyen, former deputy head of the Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment's land management division, received a suspended 36-month sentence; and Nguyen Thi Cam Le, former official of the department, got 30 months in probation. The duo were convicted of "showing a lack of responsibility causing serious consequences".

According to the indictment, in 2020, the Dong Anh district people's committee assigned the district PMU to organize an auction of land use rights for more than 1.6 hectares.

During the implementation, Tran Cong Tuyen ordered his subordinates to contact a valuation firm to determine the starting price of the land plot. The valuation company valued it at approximately VND504 billion ($20.27 million), but Tuyen requested them to bring it down to around VND300 billion ($12.07 million).

After receiving the land, Nguyen Thi Loan allowed Belleville Hanoi Real Estate JSC to sell 21 out of 96 villas and adjacent houses, earning VND311 billion ($12.51 million), or VND86.3 million ($3,470) per square meter.

Investigators determined that the actual value of the land at the time of issuing the valuation certificate was more than VND28.5 million per sqm, equivalent to over VND462 billion ($18.58 million). As a result, the state budget suffered a total loss of more than VND135 billion ($5.43 million).