NATIONAL ASSEMBLYMAN CORRUPTION CASE: BAD TIMING AND FEW

UNCLAS HANOI 001197 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS and DRL/AWH E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EFIN EAID ETRD ECPS PREL PGOV SOCI VM SUBJECT: NATIONAL ASSEMBLYMAN CORRUPTION CASE: BAD TIMING AND FEW FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES EQUAL JAIL TIME Ref: A) HANOI 1016; B) 06 HANOI 771; C) 06 HANOI 1090 Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) On June 26, the Supreme People's Court of Appeals (SPCA) upheld the guilty verdict of Mac Kim Ton, a former National Assembly (NA) member and Director of the Thai Binh Provincial Education Department (TBED),for "abusing power in the conduct of his official duties." Ton had been found guilty last year of receiving a bribe in return for sending business to a former associate. In spite of the relatively low sum of cash involved, Ton's bad timing and his lack of friends in high places made him an easy target for the GVN in its drive to show that it is serious about tackling corruption. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) On June 26, the Supreme People's Court of Appeals (SPCA) upheld the guilty verdict of Mac Kim Ton, a former National Assembly (NA) member and Director of the Thai Binh Provincial Education Department (TBED),for "abusing power in the conduct of his official duties" (however, the SPCA reduced his sentence from eight to seven years in prison). In March, the Thai Binh Provincial People's Court had sentenced Ton after prosecutors presented "sufficient evidence" of malfeasance. The NA and TBED also stripped Ton of his positions after revelations of his alleged corrupt activities came to light. ¶3. (SBU) The court found Ton guilty of hiring one of his former students to install computers at public schools in Thai Binh Province without provincial authorization. Prosecutors charged Ton with receiving VND 270 million (about USD 16,900) as "thank-you money" from the public schools. They also charged Ton's associate with embezzling VND 460 million (about USD 28,700) from the public schools. Both were required to return their proceeds. Ton had appealed the provincial court ruling, claiming he was cheated by his former student. The SPCA commuted Ton's sentence to seven years after the court learned that his family had turned in VND 100 million (about USD 6,000) as compensation. Bad Timing and Few Friends -------------- ¶4. (SBU) According to an Office of the National Assembly (ONA) staffer, Ton's corruption case "was simple in nature" given the fact that it only involved Ton and his former student. Furthermore, no one attempted to intervene on Ton's behalf, although Ton had reportedly sought help from the NA Law Committee and the Supreme People's Procuracy. Unfortunately for Ton, the scandal's initial revelation and subsequent trial and appeal took place in the midst of both the April 2006 Party Congress and the May 2007 National Assembly election. As a result, "nobody of any rank would risk their own careers by helping to save Ton, whom most people had already decided was guilty of corruption," our contact noted. A separate contact at the Supreme People's Court agreed that Ton's case was "a simple criminal case" and that Ton was just "hungry for money." Comment -------------- ¶5. (SBU) In spite of the relatively low sum of cash involved, Ton's bad timing and his lack of friends in high places made him an easy target for the GVN in its drive to show that it is serious about tackling corruption. However, this case stands in stark contrast to the PMU-18 scandal, which entailed much larger amounts of cash and touched relatives of senior GVN figures (Ref A). Unlike Ton, however, no one connected to the PMU-18 scandal has done any jail time. End Comment. MARINE