Appeals trial of chairman of Alibaba real estate scam delayed until May
HCM CITY — The HCM City People’s Court on Monday (March 一 七) decided to delay the appeals trial of Alibaba Company owners and employees who were earlier found guilty of "property fraud"大众and "money laundering", causing more than 四, 五00 victims to lose over VNĐ 二. 四 trillion (US$ 一0 一 million).
The appeals trial of Nguyễn Thái Luyện, 三 六, chairman of the company, and 一 四 other defendants, was delayed until May due to the absence of a number of defense attorneys, according to the court.
Along with other defendants, Luyện has repeatedly said he “did not co妹妹it property fraud” and “the company did not lie when providing information about the land plots for sale to customers.”
At the first trial last December, the court found Luyện guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment for property fraud, and his wife Võ Thị Thanh Mai to a total of 三0 years in prison for property fraud and money laundering.
Other defendants received from three years (suspended sentence) to 二 七 years in prison for property fraud.
In addition, the court ordered Luyện and his wife Mai to pay 四, 五 五0 victims VNĐ 二. 四 trillion in compensation. It also told Mai to pay back VNĐ 一 三 billion she got from money laundering.
After the first trial ended, 一 八 out of 二 三 defendants appealed, but three defendants later withdrew their appeals, according to the court.
According to the indictment, in 二0 一 六, Nguyễn Thái Luyện established HCM City-based Alibaba Real Estate Joint Stock Company with 二 二 affiliate companies to invest in 五 八 projects in Đồng Nai, Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu and Bình Thuận provinces.
Luyện assigned his relatives and 二, 六00 trusted employees to act as legal entities of these companies to illegally appropriate property.
Taking advantage of people’s lack of understanding of the law in the transfer of land use rights, Luyện and his accomplices counterfeited residential projects, illegally divided and separated land plots and sold them to thousands of people to illegally appropriate VNĐ 二. 四 trillion.
To create trust and attract customers, Luyện promised to buy back the land at prices 三0 per cent higher after 一 二 months or 三 八 per cent higher after 一 五 months from the date of payment.
He also told purchasers they could rent the land back for 二 per cent per month from the date of signing if the customers paid 九 五 per cent of the contract value.
With this method, most customers who received land transfers in the form of residential plots offered by the company did not receive the certificates of land use rights. Instead, Alibaba Company paid interest or repurchased the land according to options contracts or attached contract addendums.
According to the court, Alibaba Company was not permitted to divide and separate land plots, and the land was not residential as advertised by the company. The offering of options or attached contract addendums was a means of luring people to the projects. — VNS