Muong Thanh Group chairman on trial for illegal housing sale

Le Thanh Than showed up at the Hanoi People’s Court after being under house arrest since July 2019.

Six former officials of Ha Dong District and its Kien Hung Commune are also on trial for dereliction of duty which enabled the crime.

The 488 customers who were allegedly cheated have been called as witnesses.

The court was in session at the time of publishing.

Defrauded customers were called to witness Le Thanh Than's trial on August 10, 2023 in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Danh Lam

In 1995, Ha Tay Province (merged with Hanoi in 2008) leased 15,000 square meters of land in Kien Hung Commune to Bemes Manufacturing, Export and Import Corp, a Muong Thanh subsidiary, for 15 years to build a construction materials plant.

In 2008, just before the merger, Bemes received approval from the Ha Tay People's Committee for CT6 Kien Hung, a mixed-used development comprising apartments, a hotel and 15 townhouses.

According to investigators, the developer amended the plans to add one floor to the approved 31 and removed a basement.

The building to house the hotel was changed into an apartment tower, with 495 hotel rooms now becoming 1,582 condos.

Than also directed the construction of an additional building, unauthorized, with 438 apartments.

In May 2011 he gave false information about the legality of the project to sell apartments.

Many people trusted him and signed contracts with Bemes to buy apartments, according to prosecutors.

As chairman, he personally signed the contracts with customers, gaining their trust so that they would pay upfront, and also decided the prices.

Of the 1,620 apartments in the project, only 934 apartments had title deeds, the investigation found.

Than is thought to have illegally earned over VND534 billion, and caused losses of more than VND53 billion to the customers who could not get the title deeds.

The prosecutors said the six officials had been "irresponsible" and this enabled Than’s fraud.