Two former Thanh Hoa province Party chiefs disciplined

The Central Inspection Committee on Thursday proposed the Politburo and the Party Central Committtee's Secretariat to discipline two former Party chiefs of Thanh Hoa province, Mai Van Ninh and Trinh Van Chien, and many other former officials.

These people include Nguyen Dinh Xung, former deputy chief of Thanh Hoa's Party Committee and former chairman of the province; Le Thi Thin, former vice chairman; Pham Dang Quyen, former vice chairman; Hoang Van Hung, former director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment; Trinh Huu Hung and Hoang Sy Binh, former directors of the Health Department.

The Central Inspection Committee also gave warnings to Nguyen Duc Quyen, former vice chairman of the province; Nguyen Ngoc Hoi, former vice chairman; Dao Vu Viet, chief of Bim Son town's Party Committee; Vu Dinh Xinh and Dao Trong Quy, former directors of the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

Le Anh Tuan, former vice chairman of the province and now Deputy Minister of Transport; Mai Xuan Liem, vice chairman; Luong Tat Thang, chief of Sam Son town's Party Committee; and Do Huu Quyet, director of the provincial Department of Information and Communications were reprimanded.

The Central Inspection Committee concluded that Thanh Hoa province's Party leaders had violated the principle of democratic centralism and working regulations, lacked responsibility, showed loose leadership and direction, lacked inspection and supervision.

As a result, many leaders of the provincial People's Council, the provincial Party Committee and other organizations, as well as many individuals had seriously violated Party regulations and State laws.

Violations had occurred in investment policy approval, planning, planning adjustment, land allocation, certification and calculation of land use fees, as well as allocation, management and use of state budget for some projects, including those implemented by FLC Group and AIC Group.

Some cadres and Party members falsely declared their own assets, violating the Anti-corruption Law, rules on Party members' code of conduct, and regulations on their responsibility to set a good example as leaders. Some cadres and Party members were disciplined or penalized as criminals

Such violations "have led to very serious consequences and great losses to the state's money and property, causing bad public opinion in society and affecting the reputation of Party organizations and local governments to the point they must be disciplined".

The Central Inspection Committee has also proposed the Party Central Committee's Secretariat discipline Nguyen Thanh Tri, Lai Chau province's chief inspector.

The committee found that Tri had degraded in political thought, morality, and lifestyle; accepted bribes, covered up for subordinates to accept bribes, violated Party regulations and State laws on anti-corruption, and breached regulations on Party members' code of conduct and responsibility to set a good example as leaders.

The above violations had "caused very serious consequences and angry public opinion, adversely affecting the reputation of Party organizations and the inspection sector".

Therefore, the committee proposed the Secretariat to discipline Tri.

Tri, 54, was arrested in May on charges of accepting bribes. He had been appointed chief inspector of Lai Chau province at the end of 2020.

According to Lai Chau's police, Tri's arrest is part of an expanded investigation into bribe taking while inspecting afforestation projects in the area. He is suspected of directly accepting bribes of hundreds of millions of Vietnamese dong (VND1 million = $43) from heads of protection forest management boards. The police are clarifying the amount.

Initial investigations show that on January 17, the Inspector of Lai Chau province issued a decision to inspect afforestation projects in the area in the period 2015-2021.

The heads of the district forest management boards discussed contributing money to the inspection team. The bribes were shared by members of the delegation.