At a press conference on December 21, Ho Chi Minh City’s Police Department informed about the wrongdoings of Mr. Tat Thanh Cang, the former permanent deputy secretary of the city’s Party Committee.
According to Senior Lieutenant Colonel Pham Van Thanh, the Police Investigation Agency probed and arrested Mr. Tat Thanh Cang and his accomplices because Mr. Cang has made a mistake in approving the plan to raise the charter capitals and sell 9 million shares of IPC and SADECO to its strategic shareholder Nguyen Kim Company not through auction appraisal, causing great damage to the state, the biggest shareholder of the two firms.
Currently, PC03 is investigating the case to soon propose prosecution to bring the case to trial in the near future.
Mr. Thanh said: “In connection with this case, PC03 Ho Chi Minh City police probed a total of 19 defendants, most of whom are the key leaders of IPC, SADECO and some of the defendants are officials of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Office.”
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department, the investigation process is handled carefully, objectively, in the spirit of respect for the law. Currently, the police are concentrating on consolidating documents and evidence, to propose prosecution in accordance with the statutory deadline.
Previously, the article on Tuoi Tre entitled “Violations that caused Mr. Tat Thanh Cang to be removed from the position of the Central Committee” said that Mr. Cang also had many other “mistakes” that caused him to be disciplined and dismissed as a member of the Central Committee in 2018:
“Mr. Tat Thanh Cang, as the standing deputy secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee and the director of the Department of Transport, violated the regulations in many cases, leading to his dismissal of the Central Committee and deputy standing secretary of the City Party Committee in 2018.”
These mistakes, which Tuoi Tre quoted from the conclusion of the Central Inspection Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam announced from the end of December 2018, that Mr. Tat Thanh Cang had “very serious” violations, to the level to be considered and disciplined.
Accordingly, during the time he held the positions, he had approved the project of 4 high-cost roads in Thu Thiem wrong with regulations, Decision on wrong authority causing loss of state property (related the case with Tan Thuan Industrial Development One Member Limited Liability Company (IPC).
‘The oven is hot, but the firewood is small.’
Speaking at the press conference, Senior Lieutenant Colonel Pham Van Thanh emphasized: “The investigation agency strictly implements the guiding spirit of the General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong, which is “No zones, no exceptions, no privileges.”
Previously, on Dec 12, Deputy Head of the Central Internal Affairs Department Nguyen Thai Hoc commented: “The General Secretary has repeatedly concluded that the fight against corruption does not stop, no rest, no slack down but more drastic.”
At the same time, Mr. Hoc also affirmed: “In the hot 12th term, the spirit of fighting against corruption remains the same“.
Mr. Vu Quoc Hung, former permanent deputy chairman of the Central Inspection Commission, called the term of the 12th Congress term, a period of “turning the situation around.”
According to Mr. Hung, many cases, which have long been considered “restricted and sensitive areas” lasting from previous years, involve high-ranking officials but have been probed, investigated, and considered by procedural agencies. trial according to the law. He took the example of the case related to Mr. Dinh La Thang; the AVG case;
On December 16 from Saigon, attorney Tran Quoc Thuan, former standing vice chairman of the National Assembly Office of Vietnam, commented on Tat Thanh Cang’s detention with BBC News Vietnamese, he said:
“Through monitoring, I think that not only Mr. Tat Thanh Cang but also other people involved, which are more important but have not been handled to any place, is also a complete lack.”
“The oven has been heated, but the firewood is odd, and the work has not been done yet. It also awaits for the people. There are senior officials and party members who are saying that if they have done so, they must be thoroughly done.”
“And there is not yet to mention the long-term mistakes related to the Thu Thiem case and obviously there are many problems, not just one, but have been handled inappropriately, halfway,” Mr. Thuan commented. At the same time, he also said that until this point, the probe of Mr. Tat Thanh Cang was “a bit late.”
What did Mr. Tat Thanh Cang do in Thu Thiem land?
Mr. Tat Thanh Cang was accused of “very serious violations” in the administration work in Ho Chi Minh City, including the project in Thu Thiem urban area, according to the conclusion of the Central Inspection Commission announced on November 15.
On the afternoon of November 15, the Central Inspection Commission announced the conclusion that the Standing Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Tat Thanh Cang had committed a “very serious” violation in many cases.
The announcement stated: “The violations of Comrade Tat Thanh Cang are very serious, causing frustration in society, greatly affecting the prestige of the Party Committee, to the point of having to be considered and disciplined.”
Mr. Cang committed wrongdoings when he was the deputy secretary of the city Party Committee as well as when he was still the director of the city’s Department of Transport.
Just a few weeks ago, on November 7, Mr. Cang was appointed by the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee to concurrently hold the position of Head of the City Steering Committee to pilot mediation, dialogue in the settlement of civil and administrative sentences.
Four high-cost roads in Thu Thiem
Part of the conclusion of the Central Inspection Commission said that during his position as the director of the Department of Transport of Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Cang violated the law on land. and manage construction investment when approving the project and signing off the contract of the construction investment project for 4 main roads in Thu Thiem new urban area.
Mr. Tat Thanh Cang is said to have approved the project and signed a contract with Dai Quang Minh Construction Investment JSC to build four main roads in Thu Thiem New Urban Area.
These four routes include the 3.4-kilometer boulevard; the 3-kilometer central lakeside road, the 3-km road along the Saigon River, and the 2.5-km riverside roads.
These four roads are considered the backbone of Thu Thiem urban area with a total length of 12 km, a total investment of more than VMD12 trillion ($510 million).
Thus, each km of road in Thu Thiem urban area costs nearly VND700 billion, four times more expensive than the investment for the North-South expressway and three times more expensive than the Hanoi-Hai Phong expressway.
Many traffic experts rated this investment “terribly expensive,” according to VnExpress.
Mr. Cang is also said to be “beyond authority” when signing with Dai Quang Minh because the city can only approve build – transfer projects with a total investment of less than VND1.5 trillion.
Mr. Tat Thanh Cang used 79 hectares of “golden land” in the center of Thu Thiem urban area to pay a contract of VND12 trillion of Dai Quang Minh company.
The Central Inspection Commission also said that the Standing Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee had violated “the legal provisions in deciding the policy of business cooperation, transferring projects, transferring land use rights of the enterprise under the City Party Committee, approved the policy for the representative of the capital portion of the City Party Committee to vote to issue shares to strategic shareholders at the enterprise.”
Mr. Cang also “lacks responsibility, loosens leadership, directing, lacks inspection and supervision, so that the assigned field has many violations of the law, causing great damage to the City Party budget.”
Previously, Vietnamese media reported that Mr. Cang allowed Tan Thuan Company (100% capital of the Office of the City Party Committee) to transfer more than 320,000 square meters of land in the Phuoc Kien residential project (Nha Be district) to the Quoc Cuong Gia Lai JSC with “low price.”
This is a beautiful land area next to the Saigon River, sold for VND1.29 million/m2, earning more than VND419 billion, while the market price is more than VND2 trillion.
Mr. Cang is said to not even report to the Standing Committee of the Party Committee when he agreed with this land transfer policy.
The incident caused the Standing Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee to unanimously propose the discipline of Mr. Cang and submit the dossier to the Central Inspection Commission for consideration and handling since June 2018.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
