Hanoi (VNA) – Two former chairmen of the People’sCommittee of Da Nang city were among the defendants in a trial at the HanoiPeople’s Court that began on January 2, facing the charges of violatingregulations on State asset management and use and on land management.

The 21 defendants include Tran Van Minh (born in1955, Chairman of the Da Nang municipal People’s Committee from 2006 to 2011),Van Huu Chien (born in 1954, Chairman of the Da Nang People’s Committee from2011 to 2014), Phan Van Anh Vu (also known as Vu “Nhom”, born in 1975, Chairmanof the 79 Construction JSC, Bac Nam 79 JSC, I.V.C Co. Ltd, and Nhat Gia PhucInvestment JSC), and Nguyen Ngoc Tuan (born in 1958, former Vice Chairman ofthe Da Nang People’s Committee).

Among the defendants there are also severalformer officials of the Office of the Da Nang People’s Committee, theDepartment of Natural Resources and Environment, the Board for InvestmentPromotion and Support, the Department of Finance, and the Department ofTransport of the central city.

Eight defendants are former business executives.

Tran Van Minh, Van Huu Chien, Phan Van Anh Vu,Nguyen Ngoc Tuan and three others are prosecuted for both “violatingregulations on the management and use of State assets, causing losses andwastefulness” and “violating regulations on land management”.

Meanwhile, seven are charged with “violatingregulations on the management and use of State assets, causing losses andwastefulness”, and seven others are accused of “violating regulations on landmanagement”.

According to the indictment of the SupremePeople’s Procuracy, this is a “particularly serious” case that draws publicconcern. The defendants used to hold key leadership positions in the Da NangPeople’s Committee, but they seriously broke laws and intentionally violatedregulations on State asset management and use and on land management from 2006to 2014, helping Phan Van Anh Vu illegally gain “particularly high profit”through acquiring many land lots and buying State-owned houses, which hasstirred public concern and caused “particularly serious” consequences for theState budget.

Tran Van Minh and his accessories createdconditions for Phan Van Anh Vu to directly receive the assets and themanagement and exploitation rights of 15 State-owned land lots and houses,along with six land projects.

As a result, the State suffered total losses ofover 22 trillion VND (947.97 million USD at the current exchange rate).

The trial is scheduled to last through January15./.