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Ho Chi Minh City authorities are inspecing a case in which a huge piece of public land was transferred to a private firm at a price five times lower than the actual market price.
The city's Party chief Nguyen Thien Nhan ordered on Friday that the Party unit's inspectors check for law violations in the transaction, its consequences, and identify the people responsible.
Nhan's statement came two days after the Party unit made its Tan Thuan Investment and Construction Company cancel a contract to transfer 32 hectares (80 acres) of state-owned land in Nha Be District to the city' southeast to property firm Quoc Cuong Gia Lai.
The land was sold at VND400 billion ($17.5 million) in June last year.
But the city’s authorities found the transaction "intransparent" as the land was not put up for bidding. The price was too low as the area, which lies by the Saigon River, should cost up to VND2 trillion, officials said.
Inspection results are expected in two weeks.
The transaction happened weeks after Nhan took office to replace his fallen predecessor Dinh La Thang, who has been sent to prison for corruption charges.
