Phu Yen environmental chief sacked for graft

Authorities in the central province of Phu Yen Tuesday announced that they have dismissed the director of the local environmental department for misappropriating a foreign-funded project.

According to the decision released by the Phu Yen’s People’s Committee, between 2007-2009, Nguyen Kim Phuc, Director of the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, was at the helm of the VND13 billion ($667,693) project funded by Sweden.

The project was part of the SEMLA program – a Swedish initiative to support environmental and natural resources programs in six provinces between 2004 and 2009.

Phuc, 53, and his subordinate Tran Thi Na forged documents to pocket tens of millions of dong from the project’s fund.

Police say Phuc allowed his subordinates to do the same, siphoning hundreds of millions of dong from the project.

Phuc was also charged with “lacking responsiby” for illegally granting licenses and renting out lands to Son Dung Bao Co. Ltd. and R&F Co. Ltd. for eco-tourism projects, according to authorities.

Last month, Phuc and Na were expelled from Phu Yen’s Party Unit for the violations.

A police investigation into the matter remains underway.

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Fraudulent lenders cheat farmers

BA RIA - VUNG TAU — At least 20 farmers in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province's Dat Do District each have lost hundreds of millions of dong to conmen posing as middlemen to help farmers access loans.

The conmen typically help the farmers get the bank loans and appropriate a large part of it, the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reports.

Nguyen Van Lam, a duck breeder in the district, is one of the victims.

In 2006, Lam was in a critical situation after his flock died of disease and his house was flattened by a storm.

Huynh Thi Phong, who resides in Vung Tau City's Thang Tam Ward, offered to help Lam complete procedures to get a bank loan.

To earn Lam's trust, Phong lent him VND50 million to pay back his previous loan at the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam, Ba Ria – Vung Tau branch, and retrieve the certificate of land-use rights to his 10,000sq.m of land that had been used as collateral.

With Lam's certificate of land-use rights, Phong helped Lam complete procedures to borrow VND100 million from the Viet Nam Technological and Commercial Joint-stock Bank (Techcombank)'s Ba Ria-Vung Tau branch.

Instead, without Lam's knowledge, Phong applied for a VND600 million loan.

Lam said he trusted Phong, so he only followed the latter's instructions when signing the documents for the loan without reading it carefully.

It was only when Lam got the loan from the bank that he knew he had applied for VND600 million and that Phong would keep VND500 million.

Because he urgently needed money to repair his house, Lam could only accept the loan and ask Phong to sign a note saying she had borrowed VND500 million from him and would repay it with interest when the loan was due.

On the due day, Lam came to Phong's house to ask for the payment, but she had run away.

Finally, Lam had to sell his land to pay the loan and interest rate, which had reached VND696 million.

It turns out Phong had similarly swindled more than 10 people in Dat Do District.

Some of her victims have filed lawsuits against Phong.

Tuoi Tre reports that other people in the province have also used similar tricks to cheat several farmers, leaving the latter facing huge bank debts.

The victims have lost between hundreds of millions of dong to VND2 billion to this ruse, and many have had to sell off their land to repay the bank loans. — VNS

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