Ring leader Luyen Xuan Trang and other defendants at the trial
This morning, the People's Court of Binh Thuan province opened a first-instance trial of the defendant 49-year-old Luyen Xuan Trang hailing from the Northern Province of Hung Yen for smuggling petrol and oil at Duong Dong Hoa Phu Company. Trang is the leader of the largest petrol and oil smuggling ring from Singapore to Vietnam’s Binh Thuan Province with a total value of more than VND2,034 billion.
According to the police indictment, in September 2015, Luyen Xuan Trang made an agreement with the General Director of Duong Dong Sai Gon Company to receive and transfer 80 percent of shares of Duong Dong Hoa Phu Company for VND430 billion. Because Duong Dong Hoa Phu Company still owes a bank loan, Luyen Xuan Trang receives all assets and liabilities of Duong Dong Hoa Phu Company and is responsible for repaying the loan.
Luyen Xuan Trang discussed and agreed with Nguyen Duc Manh that Trang and Manh jointly bought 80 percent shares of Duong Dong Hoa Phu Company, of which Manh had 30 percent shares and acted as general director to run the company's operations in Binh Thuan Province while the remaining 50 percent shares are held by Luyen Xuan Trang.
After completing the procedures for transferring shares, Luyen Xuan Trang assigned Nguyen Duc Manh to direct, operate and decide on domestic petroleum consumption at Duong Dong Hoa Phu Company.
Prior, Luyen Xuan Trang had liaised with a seller to import gasoline and oil from abroad. Luyen Xuan Trang agreed to buy a large number of goods, but only declared a small quantity in the customs declaration form, so in the sale contract, only a part of the actual quantity of goods imported was recorded.
The actual quantity of imported goods is divided into two bills of lading, in which 1 bill of lading has the quantity in accordance with the quantity stated in the sale and purchase contract, used for customs declaration, and the remaining bill of lading is the quantity of smuggled goods.
With this method, from October 14, 2015, to January 29, 2016, Luyen Xuan Trang directed Nguyen Duc Manh to run the smuggling of 12 petrol and oil shipments with the quantity of 53,163,359 tons of A92 gasoline and 53,268.206 tons of diesel 0.05S totaling more than VND 2,034 billion.
After smuggling gasoline and oil to Vietnam, Luyen Xuan Trang directed his subordinates to contact and sell smuggled gasoline to many businesses in Binh Thuan, Khanh Hoa, Dak Lak, Long An, Tien Giang, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hanoi.
After a long time of evading an arrest warrant, Luyen Xuan Trang surrendered himself to the Investigation Police Agency of the Ministry of Public Security on September 14, 2019.
At the trial, in addition to Luyen Xuan Trang, eight other defendants related to the petrol and oil smuggling case were also brought to trial by the People's Court of Binh Thuan Province for consuming property that was committed by other people.
The trial is expected to last until August 19.
Regarding this case, in December 2018, the People's Court of Binh Thuan province gave the first-instance trial to seven defendants for smuggling and three other defendants for illegal transportation of goods across the border.
Furthermore, three other defendants were charged with giving bribes, and one defendant was charged with negligence causing serious consequences.
