(PLO)- According to the trial panel, the first-instance court returned additional investigation documents to clarify the responsibilities of the two notaries, but there was no evidence or other documents to prove it.
On July 21, the High People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City heard the appellate trial, rejected the defendant’s appeal and the People’s Procuracy’s protest at the same level, upheld the first-instance sentence of defendant Trinh Truong Giang to 18 years in prison, and Tran Thanh Hai to seven years in prison for fraud and appropriation of property.
According to the content of the case, Ms. Dang Thi Tuyet is the owner of the land plot in Go Vap district. On January 9, 2018, Ms. Tuyet signed a deposit contract to sell the land plot for 12 billion VND to three partners to buy together.
The two sides agreed to assign Trinh Truong Giang to perform a service contract for title transfer, parcel separation… After receiving the documents, Giang gave the original to Hai to keep, and Giang brought a copy to Mr. Ha Ngoc Dien to offer to sell for more than 18 billion dong.
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| Defendant Trinh Truong Giang at the appellate court. Photo: AX |
After receiving money from Mr. Dien, Giang asked Nguyen Cao Khanh, an employee of the Dam Sen Notary Office (VPCC) to draft an authorization contract. Due to the reason that Ms. Tuyet was old and weak, she could not walk on her own, so Giang and Mr. Dien signed a contract outside the office.
About 10 days later, Giang brought an authorization contract signed and authenticated by Mr. Nguyen Duy Thuc (notary public officer of Dam Sen VPCC) and Ms. Tuyet to tell Mr. Dien that the authorization contract had been signed. After having an authorization contract, Mr. Dien transferred the land plot on Mr. Ha Ngoc Hung.
According to the assessment conclusion, signature, handwriting; The fingerprints on the authorization contracts are not Ms. Tuyet’s. Ms. Tuyet also presented, did not sign any authorization contract.
At the trial, the Senior People’s Procuracy in Ho Chi Minh City maintained its position and suggested the jury to cancel the sentence due to signs of omission of criminals and offenders for two notaries, Nguy Cao Khanh and Nguyen Duy Thuc.
According to the Procuracy, their behavior violated the provisions of the Law on Notary, leading to the two defendants appropriating 18.5 billion VND. Khanh and Thuc show signs of committing a crime of irresponsibility, causing serious consequences.
Besides, Article 38 of the Law on Notary 2015 stipulates on compensation and reimbursement in notarization activities, then “notary-practicing organizations must compensate for damage … caused by the fault of the notary… of the notary public… organization caused during the notarization process”. The Procuracy proposed the trial panel to force the public prosecutor to be jointly responsible for compensating the victim.
The Appellate Court said that during the first-instance trial, the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City had done all its responsibilities when returning additional investigation documents to clarify the behavior of the notary and the responsibilities of the VPCC. According to the added KLD, there are no other grounds or documents to prove the criminal responsibility of the two notaries.
The first-instance court only tried the defendant for the acts under the charge of the Procuracy prosecuted and decided to bring the case to trial. The Court of First Instance has recommended the Department of Justice of Ho Chi Minh City to take appropriate measures to handle administrative responsibility according to the law.
As for the determination of the wrongdoing of the two notaries, the Trial Panel considers it necessary to continue to recommend the Ho Chi Minh City Police to clarify, if there are signs of crime, they will be handled in accordance with the law.
The jury also affirmed the first-instance judgment, forcing defendant Giang to pay Mr. Dien the remaining amount of 9.6 billion VND; declare cancellation of the authorization contract between Ms. Tuyet and Mr. Dien due to forging signatures; forced Mr. Dien and Mr. Hung to return the land documents to Ms. Tuyet.
SONG MAI