Lawyer talks about the case of requesting to exploit '3-ton gold treasure' under Ca Ty river

TPO - To avoid the abuse of requests to exploit treasures based on rumors, affecting the environment and security and order of the locality, the authorities need to ask people to provide clear evidence, instead of speaking generally and mysteriously.

There must be proof.

On April 8, speaking with Tien Phong about Mr. HPT in Dong Hai district, Bac Lieu province sending a petition to the authorities of Binh Thuan province requesting permission to exploit the "treasure of 3 tons of gold" under Ca Ty river (Phan Thiet city, Binh Thuan province), lawyer Le Trung Phat - Director of Le Trung Phat Law Firm (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association) said that currently, the organization of exploration, excavation, salvage of buried, buried, sunken assets and the establishment of ownership rights in this matter are regulated by law according to the provisions of Decree 29/2018/NDCP.

First, when people have information related to buried treasure, they need to report it to the authorities, according to the provisions of Article 21 of Decree 29/2018/NDCP.

If at this time, it is necessary to conduct exploration, the excavation plan will be based on Article 23 of Decree 29/2018/NDCP. Accordingly, the plan will include the location, expected start and end time, means and measures of exploration, measures to ensure safety during the exploration process, measures to prevent environmental pollution, fire and explosion prevention, excavation means and measures, measures to ensure safety...

Lawyer talks about the case of requesting to exploit the '3-ton gold treasure' under the Ca Ty River photo 1

Lawyer Le Trung Phat - Director of Le Trung Phat Law Firm (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association).

In order for an individual or organization to be granted the right to explore and exploit by the competent authority, they must meet the conditions specified in Article 24 of Decree 29/2018/NDCP, such as having the functions, experience, and equipment that meet the requirements...

“Thus, if Mr. HPT has a need and can prove to the authorities about the buried treasure, and meets the procedures according to the above regulations, he may be granted a license by the authorities to explore and excavate the treasure as he described,” said lawyer Phat.

If the excavation results in the recovery of assets, Mr. HPT will be paid a bonus according to the provisions of Article 30 of Decree 29/2018/NDCP. The bonus level will be based on the recovered value minus related costs. In this case, if Mr. HPT is the person directly excavating, the bonus will also be different from other cases such as accidental discovery or only providing information.

If Mr. HPT is licensed, the local authorities in Binh Thuan must have the function of supervision to ensure safety during excavation, ensure the environment and especially ensure that when excavating antiquities, the excavator does not hide them, as a basis for determining the value of the excavation, as a basis for paying rewards later.

According to lawyer Le Trung Phat, the law allows people to excavate buried treasures. However, to avoid abusing this and affecting the environment and local security and order, the authorities need to ask people to provide clear evidence, instead of speaking in a general and mysterious way, to avoid providing unfounded information.

“The amount of gold reaching 3 tons is not a simple number that any individual or organization could possess before. If not carefully assessed, this situation will be exploited, affecting the common life of society, wasting human resources in the management work of State agencies,” said Mr. Phat.

Lawyer talks about the case of requesting to exploit the '3-ton gold treasure' under the Ca Ty River photo 2

Ca Ty River (Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province) - where Mr. T. requested to exploit 3 tons of gold.

As Tien Phong reported, Mr. HPT in Bac Lieu has sent three applications to the People's Committee of Phan Thiet City and the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Binh Thuan province to exploit precious objects.

In the application, Mr. T. stated that his ancestors had discovered that the Japanese army had buried about 3 tons of gold and precious objects under the Ca Ty River (through Phan Thiet City) hundreds of years ago. Due to the long time, documents and images no longer exist and were only passed down by word of mouth to him. Now, Mr. T. has identified the location and filed an application for exploitation.

If permitted, the expected exploitation period is from May 1 to May 10 or from February 10, 2025 to February 20, 2025. Mr. T. affirmed that he will coordinate with 3 construction companies to exploit and comply with current legal regulations.

Mr. T. requested the local government to send 10 police officers to ensure safety during the exploitation period and send financial officers to inventory the assets after exploitation to return them to the State Treasury of Binh Thuan province.

In addition, Mr. T. also requested Binh Thuan province to send two experienced officers to handle explosives if they are discovered. All costs will be borne by him. Mr. T.'s exploitation plan will include barges, excavators and salvage workers.

“I hereby commit to deposit 500 million VND for environmental remediation at the State Treasury of Binh Thuan province and receive it back after handing over the site to its original condition. I will receive 30% of the total assets recovered from exploitation, and I will hand over the remaining 70% to the State Treasury of Binh Thuan province for leaders to handle…”, Mr. T. stated in the petition.

According to a leader of the People's Committee of Long Dien Commune (Dong Hai District, Bac Lieu Province), Mr. T. (42 years old) has been working as a salt carrier in his hometown for the past few days. Mr. T.'s wife runs a coffee shop and has a billiards table. The couple lives with their parents.

According to this leader, through talking with Mr. T.'s uncle, Mr. T. used to raise shrimp locally and used to work in Binh Thuan. However, recently, Mr. T. has only stayed home to carry salt for hire.

"We talked with Mr. T's uncle and learned that he has no grandparents or parents living in Binh Thuan," added the leader of Long Dien commune.

Mr. HPT's mother also said that the family was very surprised when they heard that her son had applied to exploit the "3-ton gold treasure". Before that, hearing Mr. T. say that he had dreamed about the above story, the family tried to stop him because it was a baseless spiritual story, but unexpectedly, T. submitted an application to exploit it. Mr. HPT's mother said that her husband was also shocked when he heard relatives inform him about his son's incident.