Few Vietnamese would turn to bank loans to finance a US$887,000 house buidling plan, but the director of a provincial department has asserted that it is how his 1.3 hectare villa complex was funded.

Pham Si Quy, director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of the northern province of Yen Bai, has come under the spotlight after his sweeping property was discovered by the media.

After several days of silence, Quy agreed to talk to the press regarding his assets, claiming the majority of the money used to build his enormous villa complex came from bank loans.

Quy’s villa 1.3 hectare villa complex in Minh Tan Ward, Yen Bai City, recently became the target of a government inspectorate investigation.

The complex includes several villas, a swimming pool, lake, football fields, restaurant, and karaoke bar.

How the official managed to build such luxury facilities on land previously zoned for forestry and aquaculture became the primary concern for investigators during their inspection.

A probe by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper found that Quy’s declaration of assets in January consisted of a 600 square meter house built on a 1,000 square meter plot and a two-hectare farm, all of which were located in Minh Tan Ward.

Quy and his wife also own a second home in Hanoi and a Toyota Camry.

In his declaration form, Quy reported a VND1 billion (US$44,347) growth in income for 2016 thanks to operations on a farm he inherited from his parents.

Bank loan

Speaking to Tuoi Tre, Quy asserted that he had borrowed about VND20 billion ($887,000) in bank loans, another sum from friends, and saved since he was young in order to accumulate such financial capacity.

“The loan can be easily confirmed from my signed contract with the bank,” the official stated.

The scandalous villa complex does not include only his family’s house, but also the farm and lake where Quy and his wife raise fish, chicken, and pigs, he said, adding that the piece of land is not as valuable as the media has reported.

“Many areas of Yen Bai are being sold at VND50 million [$2,217] to VND70 million [$3,104] per hectare.  If I wasn’t a public official, I would have invested in them long ago,” Quy continued.

Pham Si Quy, director of the Yen Bai Department of Natural Resources and Environment, speaks to the press on June 29, 2017. Photo: Tuoi Tre

He affirmed that he would be responsible for any violations that surface during the government’s investigation into his assets.

“The worst thing that can happen is that I lose my job. I would totally understand if the potential offense was serious enough for that scenario to occur,” the official remarked.

In early April, Nguyen Sy Ky, a state official in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak made headlines after his luxury villa was found to have been illegally built on land zoned for agricultural purposes. 

Explaining how he had the financial capacity to own such assets, Ky said the villa had cost VND3 billion ($133,929), and was funded by his wife’s farming, contributions from their children, and his own savings,  including his part-time work as a xe om, or motorbike taxi, driver at night while working at the provincial inspectorate

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