On the morning of March 25, the defense lawyer for the defendants in the Van Thinh Phat case continued to argue against the prosecution’s opinion.
The defense lawyer for defendant Nguyen Cao Tri presented his views on exonerating his client. According to lawyer Tran Minh Hai, the Procuracy’s proposed sentence of 10-11 years in prison for Mr. Tri for the crime of abuse of trust and appropriation of property is too harsh.
Lawyer proposed “exemption of penalty” for Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri
Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri is Chairman and General Director of Van Lang Education Management and Investment Joint Stock Company (Company Van Lang) Capella Group Joint Stock Company.
From 2017-2020, Ms. Truong My Lan many times transferred money through her staff to buy shares in a number of Nguyen Cao Tri’s projects at: Company Industrial Rubber Joint Stock Company (in Dong Nai); Saigon Dai Ninh Tourism Investment Joint Stock Company (in Lam Dong) and project investment cooperation in Hai Ha district, Quang Ninh province.
According to the indictment, due to receiving many investments and loans but there was no receipt, so in January 2021, Mr. Tri met Ms. Lan to agree to finalize the investments that Ms. Lan transferred to Tri, a total of 1,000 billion VND. After that, Mr. Tri agreed to transfer to Ms. Lan 10% of the charter capital of Van Lang Company and agreed to let Ho Quoc Minh own the shares.
On October 21, 2022, Mr. Tri only Directed the assistant to draft price adjustment documents and liquidate the entire contract to transfer 10% of the charter capital of Van Lang Company signed with Ms. Lan.
Mr. Tri then completed the documents. and carried out procedures to confirm the transfer of more than 4 million shares (equivalent to 10% of charter capital) from Ho Quoc Minh to Mr. Tri’s younger brother, Nguyen Cao Duc and Tran Le Diep Thuy (accountant of Van Company). Lang).
Lawyer Tran Minh Hai assessed that defendant Nguyen Cao Tri had honestly confessed his crime. With the act of liquidating 10% of Van Lang Company’s charter capital, according to the lawyer, this does not release Tri’s responsibility in paying Ms. Truong My Lan.
This 10% liquidation contract is actually the transfer of payments between Mr. Tri and Ms. Lan. Previously, there were 3 contracts signed between the two, but then Ms. Lan did not want to implement them. Instead of returning it, the two parties converted it into a contract to liquidate 10% of the value of Van Lang Company. The parties have never had an agreement to liquidate the three old agreements. Ms. Lan has not confirmed the termination of the other 3 transactions.
“Even though defendant Tri sincerely admitted his wrongdoing, I hope the jury and Procuracy will consider the internal motives of the defendant’s actions. That is Due to the phenomenon of duplicate transaction documents, Mr. Tri is at risk of having to pay twice the amount actually received, which is 2,000 billion VND,” the lawyer explained.
With the act of liquidating the contract Investment trust number 18, the lawyer said that the two parties signed two different contracts, so defendant Tri decided to liquidate investment trust contract number 18. The defense hopes the jury will consider and evaluate the seriousness of the contract. important in Mr. Tri’s behavior.
When he learned that Ms. Truong My Lan had not received any money from Ho Quoc Minh, Mr. Tri accepted responsibility for the payment of this 1,000 billion VND as the defendant.
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Lawyer Hai assessed that determining the amount of money appropriated would affect the defendant’s criminal liability. Throughout the trial, Mr. Tri testified that he only actually received 827 billion VND, but the defendant will repay 1,000 billion VND. Mr. Tri’s family has also been actively overcoming the consequences of the case.
Lawyer Tran Minh Hai said that the consequences between two individuals, Ms. Truong My Lan and Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri, do not affect Nothing to do with SCB or national financial security. The Procuracy also noted many mitigating circumstances for the defendant but did not record any aggravating circumstances.
According to the lawyer, Mr. Tri’s actions caused the smallest damage but the most thorough recovery. The remedy is not only for the defendant but also contributes to overcoming the overall consequences of the case. Mr. Tri was also awarded many certificates of merit and medals.
From the above analysis, the lawyer proposed that the jury apply Article 59 of the Penal Code to exempt defendant Nguyen Cao Tri from punishment.
How much money did Mr. Tri repay?
Regarding civil liability, Mr. Tri’s lawyer said during the investigation and prosecution of the authorities temporarily detained from the defendant more than 677 billion in cash and more than 3 million USD.
The lawyer proposed to convert the USD exchange rate to cash at the current exchange rate of 24,012 VND/USD to offset 1,000 billion VND is the obligation that Mr. Tri must pay.
If the total is deducted, the lawyer believes that Mr. Tri has deducted more than 757 billion VND in damages and still has to pay more than 242 billion VND. The defendant’s family will try to arrange enough cash as soon as possible or hope the jury will give Mr. Tri’s family up to 3 months from the effective date of the verdict to complete their civil obligations.
In addition, according to the lawyer, the investigation agency also distrained 6 real estate properties of Mr. Tri and the family’s daughter agreed to continue distraint to settle the defendant’s civil obligations. But when the family pays in full, there will be a request to release the above real estate distraint.
The lawyer also presented in court a request from Mr. Nguyen Dac to reduce Mr. Tri’s penalty. Tam (Chairman of the Founding Council of Van Lang University). Mr. Tri’s defense also said there were more than 2,000 signatures asking the court to reduce his client’s sentence.
Defendant Nguyen Cao Tri: “I was wrong”
Defending himself, Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri said that when he sat in court to listen to the impeachment and proposed sentence of the Procuracy to the defendant, he was “very surprised to see that it was too high compared to the crime.” “
The defendant continued to explain the complicated circumstances that brought the defendant to today’s situation.
“I admit I made a mistake Please accept it all. When Ms. Lan and her system were prosecuted, I was confused and worried because I was afraid that my system was related to Ms. Lan’s system. At that time, I hesitated I hope to receive some information from Ms. Lan to know what I have to do to protect your rights as my partner,” defendant Tri said.
In an effort to resolve the defendant believes that he chose the wrong solution that led to the violation. When Ms. Lan transacted with her grandparents, not in her name, but with a broker, Mr. Tri said he understood that Chairman Van Thinh Phat intended to reserve that money would be risky.
“In fact, investment cooperation relationships between businessmen are often quite complicated transactions, especially with relatively large value. Many contracts are divided into many long periods, increasing difficulties and unpredictable risks. Ms. Lan’s incident put me in a difficult situation, worrying too much that I had made a mistake. That was a mistake between me and Ms. Lan between a businessman and a businessman in a real situation in the life of a businessman when handling a crisis,” Mr. Tri presented.
The defendant hopes the jury will see He said that in this trial he was the only person who had nothing to do with the activities of Van Thinh Phat or SCB.
“The defendant sat and listened to the appropriated damage figures. in an unimaginably terrible case. The defendant’s mistake in this case is that the smallest damage stemming from the businessman’s crisis is up to now almost 100% guaranteed. The defendant heard in court that there was a case that caused hundreds of trillions of billions in losses but was recommended to receive a suspended sentence of 3-4 years. The defendant makes such comparisons that he does not want to affect the situation of the other defendants, but wants the jury to consider it to have a suitable sentence for the defendant,” Mr. Tri said.
The defendant said that when he heard Ms. Truong My Lan said she would use the 1,000 billion he returned to transfer to defendant Truong Hue Van to fix the damage to reduce the penalty. He found that really meaningful.
“Thank you, Ms. Lan asked to lighten my sentence. The defendant hopes that the jury will consider applying the lowest sentence within the legal framework so that the defendant can return to his family soon. The defendant suffered a spinal injury in an accident in prison that doctors said would require surgery in 6 months and has now been held in solitary confinement for more than 15 months. I hope the jury will consider that the defendant, who is still the president and general director of the system, is absent for too long, which will affect 6,000 workers.” Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri finished his self-defense.
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