Dong Nai provincial court in southeast Vietnam is about to start hearing the largest gasoline smuggling case in the country. It involves the smuggling of 200 million liters (52.8 million gallons) of counterfeit gasoline, worth VND2.9 trillion (U.S. $116.6 billion).
The case is due to start Tuesday and last up to 60 days. It involves 74 defendants and also 53 individuals and organizations with related interests and obligations.
The public prosecutor has issued indictments against Dao Ngoc Vien, director of Ocean Hai Phong; Phan Thanh Huu, director of Phan Le Hoang Anh Trading; Nguyen Huu Tu, director of Phan Le Hoang Anh Trading and 70 accomplices for smuggling.
Ngo Van Thuy, Captain of Team 3 of the Anti-Smuggling Investigation Department at the General Department of Customs is being prosecuted for taking bribes.
According to the indictment, from March 2020 to February 2021, Phan Thanh Huu, Nguyen Huu Tu, Dao Ngoc Vien and their accomplices made 48 trips, bringing nearly 200 million liters (52.8 million gallons) of illegal gasoline into Vietnam.
Most of the gasoline has already been sold, earning them hundreds of billions of dong. Huu is said to have made more than 105 billion dong (U.S. $4.2 million).
The indictment also says the Customs Department’s Thuy “received gifts” worth around 800 million dong ($32,180) in order to not to stop Tu’s ship
In a related case on July 15, a military court sentenced 14 defendants for smuggling, accepting bribes, and helping other to others to flee abroad illegally.
The charges date from between March 2020 and Feb. 2021 when the director of Phan Le Hoang Anh Trading, gasoline smuggler Phan Thanh Huu, and his accomplices smuggled about 200 million liters of gasoline, worth about U.S.$130 million, into Vietnam.