43/67 defendants who appealed all asked for a reduced sentence, in which former deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department Nguyen Thi Bich Hanh presented many new mitigating circumstances to request a special leniency policy.
After more than a week of trial and deliberation, this afternoon (May 3), the High People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City will issue an appeal verdict on the case that occurred at Thu Duc Housing Development Joint Stock Company (Thuduc House) and related units.
43/67 defendants who appealed all asked for a reduced sentence. When asked, the defendants all asked for a reduced sentence and presented new extenuating circumstances such as paying additional money to overcome consequences, having medical records of ongoing treatment, certificates of merit from agencies and organizations. …
At the same time, the defendants also asked the Court of Appeal to consider civil liability in the case because they believed that they did not benefit from the appropriated money, the beneficiary was Trinh Tien Dung (who is on the run). The amount of money required to reimburse Thuduc House is beyond my ability.
In addition, some defendants who were convicted of illegally transporting monetary goods across the border also asked the jury to consider converting the prison sentence to a fine (this crime requires a fine).
In court, defendant Nguyen Thi Bich Hanh (former deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department) asked for a special leniency policy, a suspended sentence for medical treatment and argued that the four-year prison sentence for violating the law was Regulations on state asset management that cause loss and waste are too severe.
According to the first instance judgment, defendant Hanh, as deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department, directed and signed tax refund decisions for Thuduc House for 15 periods (from April 2018 to June 2019) illegally. regulations, ignoring signs of tax risks, not applying risk management principles in tax refund management. The defendant had the opinion to direct the departments handling tax refunds for Thuduc House not to properly and fully apply the procedures and guiding documents on tax refund management, causing a loss to the State of 331 billion VND.
Defendant Hanh presented many new extenuating circumstances to request a suspended sentence such as: The lost tax refund amount of 365 billion has been fully recovered, with no loss.
Second, the General Department of Taxation and the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department also sent an official dispatch to the High People’s Court and the High People’s Procuracy in Ho Chi Minh City stating that the tax officials who are defendants in the case have complied with the spirit of the direction of the Department of Taxation. superior documents, classify tax refund dossiers in accordance with regulations of the Ministry of Finance.
In addition, in the document sent to the court by the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department, it also said that during their work, tax civil servants always strive to successfully complete all assigned tasks and achieve many achievements; has a fierce fighting spirit to detect fraud, violations of the Law, profiteering of tax refunds and has contributed to recovering tax refunds for the State.
Third, we have a ministerial-level scientific research project that has been accepted by the Ministry of Finance. In addition, defendant Hanh also stated that he was staying with and taking care of his elderly mother, who is over 80 years old. She herself suffered from depression and was being treated at the Ho Chi Minh City Psychiatric Hospital.
