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Although the project is not yet completed, a former village chairman and two company directors in Thanh Hóa have conspired to forge documents and siphon funds from the state budget. On May 8, the Investigation Police Agency (Economic Crime Investigation Department) of Thanh Hóa Province’s Police announced the indictment of Pham Van Nhi, former Chairman of Lam Phu Commune, Lang Chanh district (now Văn Phú Commune, Thanh Hoa Province); Le Van Tuan, Director of Tuấn Hung Construction and Trading Service Co., Ltd.; and Nguyen Ngoc Tien, Director of Phu Khang Construction Consulting Co., Ltd., on charges of “abuse of position and power while performing official duties.” According to initial results, to implement the policy encouraging rural transport development for 2022–2025 in Thanh Hóa, the Lam Phu Commune People’s Committee was approved by the Lang Chanh District People’s Committee to receive 600 million VND to build 1 km of rural road in Cha Pi hamlet, an area with many hardships of the former Lang Chanh mountainous district. As the investor, the Lam Phu Commune People’s Committee appointed Tuấn Hung Construction and Trading Service Co., Ltd to execute the project; Phu Khang Construction Consulting Co., Ltd to provide consulting and supervision. When the project began, the parties agreed to divide the project into two bidding packages with construction values under 1 billion each. Package 1 covered a road segment of more than 488 meters; package 2 covered more than 511 meters. The total construction value of both packages was over 2.35 billion VND. However, in reality the contractor had only completed about 177 meters of concrete road on a section of package 2; other components were not implemented according to the approved design and budget. Although the project was not completed and not eligible for acceptance, the parties still prepared fake documents certifying completion of construction volume to legitimize the payment procedures for the state subsidy and disbursement to the contractor of more than 426 million VND, causing damage to the State budget. Currently, Thanh Hoa Police’s Economic Police Department continues to expand the case and clarify responsibilities of organizations and individuals.
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