At 8am of February 11, a task force of the Public Security Ministry (PSM) came to Binh Thuan Province Finance Department to investigate. 30 minutes later, it visited the private house of one suspect named Ngo Hieu Toan (born in 1977, deputy director of Binh Thuan Province Finance Department) to search for proofs of law violation.
At the same time, another task force of PSM went to the private house of Ho Lam (born in 1960, former director of Binh Thuan Province Department of Natural Resources and Environment) to fulfill its duty of proof seeking there until 10am.
The third task force came to the private house of Luong Van Hai (born in 1960, former vice chairman of Binh Thuan Province People’s Committee) to do the same task until 10am.
These actions follow the criminal case prosecution of IPA for law breaking activities in Tan Viet Phat 2 Commercial, Service, and Residential Area Project (land lot No.18, 19, and 20), sited in Phu Hai Ward of Phan Thiet City in Binh Thuan Province with the total area of 92,600m².
During the investigation process, IPA signed a contract with an independent asset valuation organization to value the three mentioned land lots. Accordingly, the land use right value for the land lots in March 2017 (the time of land lease contract) was over VND1.9 million (US$84) per meter square. Yet the price written in the contract was only VND1.2 million ($53 – the initial price identified in 2013).
This difference means a total state budget loss of nearly VND71.4 billion ($3.15 million).
