The court has summoned 11 witnesses and the victim party, which is the Red Star Construction Material Exploitation Company branch. Eight defense lawyers are representing the defendants.

According to a decision by the High People’s Court in Hanoi, the appellate trial for Luu Binh Nhuong (born 1963), Le Thanh Van (born 1964) - both former National Assembly deputies - and Nguyen Van Vuong (born 1976), a former specialist at the Office of the President, will be held on April 29.

The appeal will be heard at the Thai Binh Provincial Court to consider the defendants’ appeals. The presiding judge is Pham Van Nam. Eleven witnesses and one victim company have been summoned. Eight defense attorneys will represent the accused.

Previously, the Thai Binh Provincial Court sentenced Le Thanh Van to seven years in prison and Nguyen Van Vuong to 14 years for "abusing position and power to influence others for personal gain."

Luu Binh Nhuong received a combined sentence of 13 years: three years for "extortion" and ten years for "abuse of position and power to influence others for personal gain." Co-defendants Pham Minh Cuong (also known as Cuong "Quat") and Vu Dang Phuong received seven and six years respectively for "extortion."

After the first-instance trial, Le Thanh Van and Nguyen Van Vuong appealed their convictions, asserting their innocence, while Luu Binh Nhuong appealed for a reduced sentence.

According to the indictment, Luu Binh Nhuong served as a National Assembly deputy in the 14th legislature (2016-2021), representing Ben Tre Province. From July 2018 to November 2023, he was Deputy Head of the National Assembly Standing Committee’s People's Aspiration Committee.

In May and June 2021, Pham Minh Cuong informed Nhuong that he had used fraudulent means to obtain money from the Red Star Company branch and asked for Nhuong’s intervention to facilitate his business operations.

Cuong sold Nhuong a 30-hectare mudflat for about 1.2 billion VND (approx. 47,600 USD) but only took 900 million VND (about 35,700 USD), giving Cuong control to manage and exploit the area while Nhuong’s family collected the revenue. Nhuong then called the provincial police chief in Thai Binh to intervene in Cuong’s favor and visited various local authorities to bolster Cuong’s influence and help him continue extorting money.

From October 2021 to July 2022, Cuong and his accomplices continued extorting more than 1.6 billion VND (about 63,400 USD) from the Red Star Company branch.

In December 2020 and May 2021, Nhuong, acting as a National Assembly deputy, sent letters to leaders of the Hai Phong City People’s Committee, the Chief Justice, the Chief Procurator, and the Police Chief of Hai Phong, to benefit a man named Thao. In return, he received a wooden gate valued at 75 million VND (approximately 3,000 USD) and aimed to obtain a land lot worth 160 million VND (around 6,300 USD).

On March 15, 2021, Nhuong used his title as a deputy to request the government approve Manh Duc Company’s Quế Võ III project in Bac Ninh, from which he benefited with 300,000 USD. On July 18 and October 1, 2019, he signed two letters urging the Quang Ninh Provincial People’s Committee to allow Ha Long Company to continue a 36-hectare project. In return, he gained a plot in Dong Anh valued at over 1.8 billion VND (around 71,200 USD) and sought to obtain 1,000m² of land at the same project, worth more than 1.9 billion VND (approx. 75,200 USD).

Between July and October 2023, while serving as Deputy Head of the People's Aspiration Committee, Nhuong contacted Quang Ninh leaders to support Trường Sinh Joint Stock Company’s licensing of the Bac Son hill project, for which he received 210 million VND (about 8,300 USD).

Meanwhile, Le Thanh Van is accused of signing four letters to the Quang Ninh Provincial Party Committee, People’s Committee, and the Deputy Prime Minister, seeking approval for Ha Long Company to proceed with the same 36-hectare project. He allegedly received a plot in Dong Anh worth over 1.8 billion VND (approx. 71,200 USD) and 1,000m² of land worth over 1.9 billion VND (approx. 75,200 USD).

Defendant Nguyen Van Vuong met with both Nhuong and Van to ask for their help in securing approval for Ha Long Company to continue its 36-hectare project. The total benefit Vuong received was estimated at over 26 billion VND (around 1.03 million USD).

T. Nhung