Halotel top bosses' plea bargain with DPP still on hold

Dar es Salaam. Halotel Tanzania’s director Son Nguyen (46) and five other co-accused are still in a plea bargain with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to settle their case.

Defence lawyer Benedict Ishabakaki had on July 8, 2020 told the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court that his clients had written to the DPP admitting to the charges facing them.

In the letter, they also asked the court to reduce the possible punishment so that they can settle their case.

Ishabakaki alleged in court that his clients decided to write to the DPP so that they can settle the case with the latter.

Nguyen and the co-accused from the firm are facing 10 charges in the economic sabotage case no. 28/2020, including causing a loss of Sh78 billion to the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority  (TCRA).

However, today, state attorney Esther Martin, before the Resident Magistrate, Janeth Mtega, said that the case came up for mention and investigations into the case were incomplete and thus asking the court to set another date of mention.

The magistrate, after having heard both sides, adjourned the case to July 28, 2020 when it will come up for mention.

Besides Nguyen, the other accused are Nguyen Minh,40,  and Vu Tiep, who are both the managers of Halotel; Ha Than ,39, an ICT expert at Halotel; the firm’s director of finance, Nguyen Cong ,35, and Viattel firm.

The accused persons, who are all Vietnamese nationals and residents of Msasani, Dar es Salaam, are accused of causing the loss to the government by constructing a cable  that channeled hidden communication without a permit from TCRA in the process putting national security at risky.

In the 10 charges facing them, four are for money.

In the principal case, the accused are alleged that between June 8,2017 and March 26,2020 in the area of Mikocheni in Kinondoni District, Dar es Salaam Region, led a criminal gang so that they could obtain profits.

They are also alleged that between June 8,2017 and March  26,2020 in the same area by using radio waves without a permit from TCRA caused a loss of Sh75bilion to the Authority.

In the same period, the accused persons are alleged to have used virtual private network (VPN) equipment and thus causing a loss of Sh3.3 billion to TCRA.