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.
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Thứ Ba, 7 tháng 1, 2014
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