Nguyen Duc Chung
14 December 2020
Nguyen Duc Chung, Hanoi’s former mayor, was jailed for five years on Friday (11 Dec), after a four-hour closed trial in Hanoi, state media said for stealing state documents. He was a key backer of Formula 1 Grand Prix. Without him there is uncertainty over future of this race in Vietnam. Some spectator stands have been removed from beside the track, indicating that the government is prepared for the discontinuance of the race.
At a four-hour trial, Chung admitted his crime and showed his repentance. He had many mitigating factors such as being commended at all levels for his outstanding performance in his work. He was awarded the title of Hero of the People’s Armed Forces. Above all he had a history of cancer.
Three people linked to Hanoi government and police were arrested Wednesday for stealing classified documents in a money laundering scandal involving a tech firm. They were jailed for between 18 months and four-and-a-half years.
Nguyen Hoang Trung, 37, driver of Hanoi Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung, alongside Nguyen Anh Ngoc, 46, deputy head of the editorial department at the city’s People’s Committee, and Pham Quang Dung, 37, an officer of the anti-corruption police department at the Ministry of Public Security, are under criminal investigation for “appropriating documents containing state secrets.”
The Ministry of Public Security accused them of “stealing classified documents” involved in an investigation into Nhat Cuong Mobile, a major tech firm in the capital.
Channel News Asia reported.
