Police in the northern province of Vinh Phuc Thursday started investigating the alleged involvement of former secretary of Vinh Yen Town’s Party Committee in an illegal land-use case.

Lai Huu Lan, 61, also ex-chairman of Vinh Yen Town’s People’s Committee, was being investigated for “abuse of power” because he had, during his tenure, granted 25.5 hectares of farm land in Dong Tam Ward to three people who were not permanent residents in the ward and didn’t have the need for farm land.

The trio, Dang Thi Hue city, Dang Thi Lan, and Cao Van Thanh, then divided the allotted land area into several lots and sold them to people planning to build real estate projects there.

Along with Lan, Nguyen Xuan Lien, 49, former deputy head of Vinh Phuc Province’s Construction Industry Department is also being investigated for acting as a “counselor” for Lan in the illegal allottment of land.