Vice police minister is the mole: shocking court testimony Duong Chi Dung answers questions from the jury on January 7, 2014. The ex-chairman of state-owned shipping group Vinalines who was sentenced to death last month for corruption just revealed that it is the incumbent Deputy Minister of Public Security Pham Quy Ngo who secretly tipped him of his impending arrest in May 2012, helping him briefly escape justice. The notorious former official Duong Chi Dung, who once held the post as head of the Vietnam Maritime Administration, gave the shocking revelation that the high-profile police general is the mysterious informant at the trial opened by the Hanoi People’s Court today (Jan 7). This trial is expected to try Duong Tu Trong, Dung’s younger brother along with six others who helped Dung flee abroad to avoid arrest. Trong is a former colonel and former deputy director of Trong and his accomplices have been charged with “organizing other persons to flee abroad illegally,” for which they face sentences of 12 to 20 years in jail. $500,000 given to deputy minister as thanks: Dung says Dung appeared in court today as a witness and he told the court that the deputy police minister Ngo, who is a senior lieutenant general, phoned him on May 17, 2012, informing him that he had been indicted and advised him to hide for a while. According to Dung, on May 17 noon, Dung phoned deputy minister Ngo, asking where Ngo was and Ngo said he was on the way to “That afternoon I travelled near his house [the house of Ngo] ... to wait for him to return home. That evening, he [Ngo] phoned me, saying that ‘the Prime Minister had approved the indictment and arrest warrant on you, so you should hide for a while’,” Dung told the court. “After that I began to flee away on May 17 night,” Dung added. Dung also told the court that he had offered bribes to many high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Public Security to avoid being investigated over the purchase of the old floating dock from Dung said he visited Ngo’s family in Tuan Chau, “Ngo said he will help me. I gave him an envelope containing US$10,000”, Dung testified. “On May 2, 2012, I came to Ngo’s house. On the way I phone him and he said he was at home… I bought along with me US$500,000 contained in a bag to give him,” Dung said. He told the court he borrowed most of the $500,000 from many people. “That day Ngo phoned Thanh, head of the Ministry of Public Security’s Corruption Crime Investigation Police Department but none answered the phone. I later asked for Thanh’s phone, but I was too hesitating to phone Thanh. On May 6, I had Hung - Ngo’s son - take me to Thanh’s house. When meeting Thanh, I gave him $20,000 and a bottle of liquor.” “I offer such gifts to Thanh as I wanted him to help me cope with the investigation related to the old floating dock,” Dung said. Did not remember anything Meanwhile, during the trial this morning, while many defendants admitted to having helped Dung escape arrest, his own brother Trong told the court he did not remember anything. “I do not remember anything. Many [bad] things have happened to my family, so I have suffered memory-related problems. I previously declared all to the investigation agency,” Trong said. Trong’s six accomplices in the case are Vu Tien Son, ex-deputy head of the Social Crime Investigation Police Department under the Hai Phong Police; Hoang Van Thang, 43, former head of the Environmental Crime Investigation Police Department under Hai Phong City Police; Dong Xuan Phong, 39, a former official at Hai Phong City Customs Department; Nguyen Trong Anh, 28, a former subordinate of Son’s; Pham Minh Tuan, 45, director of Bach Dang Enterprise in Hai Phong City; and Tran Van Dung, 45, aka Dung “Bac Can,” a former underworld leader in Hai Phong. The trial will continue tomorrow.
|
↧
Article 3
↧