Fifty-four suspects prosecuted for wrongdoings linked with repatriation flights

To Anh Dung (L), Deputy Foreign Minister, and Nguyen Quang Linh, former assistant to the Permanent Deputy Prime Minister, are among the prosecuted persons. (Source: VNA)

Hanoi – Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung and 53 others have been prosecuted for their alleged involvement in the case of offering, brokering, and taking bribes, abusing positions or power while performing duties, and swindling to appropriate assets at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Hanoi, and some other localities.

The indictment was issued by the Supreme People’s Procuracy.

Among the 54 suspects, 21 were charged with “taking bribes” under Article 354 of the Penal Code, including Nguyen Quang Linh, former assistant to the Permanent Deputy Prime Minister; Nguyen Thanh Hai, head of the Government Office’s Department for International Relations; and Nguyen Tien Thanh and Nguyen Mai Anh, specialists at the department.

The ones at the Foreign Ministry facing this charge comprise To Anh Dung, Deputy Minister; Nguyen Thi Huong Lan, Director of the Consular Department; Do Hoang Tung, Deputy Director of the department; Le Tuan Anh, Chief of the department’s Office; Luu Tuan Dung, deputy head of the department’s pision for citizen protection; Vu Hong Nam, former Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan; Nguyen Hong Ha, former Vietnamese Consul General in Osaka, Japan; Ly Tien Hung, former cadre of the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia; and Vu Ngoc Minh, former Vietnamese Ambassador to Angola.

Others also accused of “taking bribes” include Pham Trung Kien, specialist at the Health Ministry’s Department for Medical Equipment and Facilities; Ngo Quang Tuan, specialist at the Transport Ministry’s Department of International Cooperation; Vu Hong Quang, deputy head of the air transport pision of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam; Tran Van Du, Vu Anh Tuan, and Vu Sy Cuong, former cadres at the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security; Tran Van Tan, former Vice Chairman of the Quang Nam provincial People’s Committee; and Chu Xuan Dung, former Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee.

Meanwhile, four were charged with “abusing positions or power while performing duties” under Article 356 of the Penal Code, namely Tran Viet Thai, former Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia; along with Nguyen Le Ngoc Anh, Nguyen Hoang Linh, and Dang Minh Phuong, former cadres of the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia.

The Supreme People’s Procuracy also prosecuted 23 for “offering bribes”, four for “brokering bribery”, one for “swindling to appropriate assets” and “offering bribes”, and another for “swindling to appropriate assets”.

According to the indictment, from April 2020, the Government allowed flights to be conducted to repatriate citizens from COVID-19-hit countries, with passengers only having to pay for flight tickets while quarantine after arrival was free of charge. After that, “combo flights” were operated with passengers voluntarily paying for all costs.

Businesses which wanted to conduct “combo flights” had to ask for permission from the People’s Committees of the provinces and cities where repatriated citizens would be quarantined. Their dossiers were later sent to the Foreign Ministry’s Consular Department, which would collect opinions of the working group of the ministries of foreign affairs, public security, health, transport, and national defence.

From early 2020 to mid-2021, authorities licensed and organised more than 1,000 flights to bring home over 200,000 citizens from 62 countries and territories. The Foreign Ministry alone proposed the Government approve 772 flights, including 400 repatriation flights and 372 “combo flights”.

The investigation agency found that the suspects at the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security and a secretary of a deputy health minister asked businesses to pay 50 - 230 million VND (2,100 - 9,800 USD) for the procedures they handled for each flight. In order to have money to pay them, 20 businesses with over 100 legal entities had to raise flight ticket prices, “invent” many expenses to charge the passengers wanting to return to Vietnam amid the pandemic.

The indictment said 21 persons from the ministries of foreign affairs, public security, health, and transport, along with the two former vice chairmen of the Hanoi and Quang Nam People’s Committees received bribes totaling over 170 billion VND.

Aside from the suspects offering and accepting bribes to conduct repatriation flights, the procuracy also found that some colluded with each other to help a business during the investigation process.

Accordingly, former Major General Nguyen Anh Tuan, former Deputy Director of the Hanoi Public Security Department, received 2.65 million USD to help Le Hong Son, General Director of the Bluesky company, and Nguyen Thi Thanh Hang, Deputy General Director of this company escape investigation.

Tuan confessed that he kept 400,000 USD for himself and gave the remaining 2.25 million USD to Hoang Van Hung, former head of the investigation pision of the Investment Security Department at the Ministry of Public Security.