HANOI - Former minister of information and communications Nguyen BAc Son was sentenced to life imprisonment on Saturday in connection with the notorious AVG deal, a lighter punishment than the death penalty proposed for him previously.
The deal involved the State-owned communications group MobiFone’s scandalous purchase of a 95 per cent stake in Audio Visual Global JSC (AVG) for a hugely inflated price.
Of the 14 defendants on trial, the 66-year-old former minister was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of taking bribes worth US$3 million and 16 years in prison on charges of violating regulations on "the management and use of public capital, causing serious consequences". Son received his life sentence in summing up. The Hanoi People’s Court said that his family had returned the $3 million to the State on Saturday so the proposed death penalty was not necessary.
Son’s deputy Truong Minh Tuan, who went on to become minister after the scandal broke, was sentenced to 14 years in prison including eight years for taking bribes and six years for violating regulations on "the management and use of public capital, causing serious consequences".
Pham Dinh Trong, former head of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC)’s Department of Enterprise Management, was sentenced to five years in prison.
Le Nam Tra, former chairman of MobiFone's board of directors, was sentenced to 23 years in prison including 16 years for taking bribes and seven years for violating management regulations.
Cao Duy Hai, former general director of MobiFone, was sentenced to 14 years in prison including 10 years for taking bribes and four years for violating the management regulations.
Other defendants found guilty of violating regulations on the management and use of public investment capital, causing serious consequences, included Vo Van Manh, director of AMAX Valuation and Investment Consultancy Company (three and a half years), and his employee Hoang Duy Quang (three years). Phan Thi Hoa Mai, a MobiFone board member, and deputy general directors of MobiFone Pham Thi Phuong Anh, Ho Tuan, Nguyen Bao Long and Nguyen Manh Hung were sentenced to two and a half years each. Nguyen Dang Nguyen, another deputy general director of MobiFone, was sentenced to two years.
Pham Nhat Vu, former AVG chairman, was sentenced to three years for giving bribes.
However, the court did decide to release property owned by Son and Tuan that had been seized as collateral during the investigation.
Besides Son’s family returning $3 million, other defendants were also ordered to return misappropriated funds, including Tuan with VND4.4 billion ($192,000), MobiFone’s Tra (VNĐ55.5 billion), MobiFone’s Hai (VND11.1 billion), the AMAX Valuation and Investment Consultancy Company (VND340 million), and AMAX’s Quang (VND54 million). All the refunds have already been paid.
The court said that the case was particularly serious, and the defendants from the Ministry of Information and Communications and MobiFone had infringed upon the State management of public investment and negatively affected people's trust in State public investment. The defendants caused damages of more than VND6.6 trillion, so strict sentences were necessary, the court said.
According to the indictment, in 2015, the MIC-run MobiFone bought 95 per cent of AVG for VND8.9 trillion (US$382.7 million), many times higher than the real value of the struggling AVG at that time.
During the purchasing process, Son, Tuan, Tra and Hai reportedly made use of their positions to speed up the deal without the approval of the Prime Minister, despite their knowledge of the poor financial and business situation at AVG. The deal caused losses of more than VND6.47 trillion ($278.21 million) to the State.
Son also allegedly received $3 million from AVG chairman Vu, while Tra, Hai and Tuan got $2.5 million, $500,000 and $200,000, respectively, to accelerate the transaction.
