Up to 54 defendants prosecuted in repatriation flight bribery scandal

Illustrative image (Photo source: baochinhphu.vn)

Hanoi - The Investigation Security Agency under the Ministry of Public Security has proposed prosecuting 54 defendants involved in the cases of “giving and accepting bribes, brokering bribery, abusing positions and power while performing duties, and fraudulently appropriating property”, which occurred at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Hanoi and other provinces and cities, after the agency concluded its investigations.

Accordingly, 21 defendants are prosecuted for receiving bribes in line with Article 354 of the Penal Code, including Nguyen Quang Linh, former Assistant to the Standing Deputy Prime Minister; Nguyen Thanh Hai, Director of the Government Office's Department of International Relations, and Nguyen Tien Than and Nguyen Mai Anh, employees at the department.

The defendants at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs being prosecuted include: To Anh Dung, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; Nguyen Thi Huong Lan, Director of the Consular Department; Do Hoang Tung, deputy head of the department; Le Tuan Anh, chief of the department’s office; Luu Tuan Dung, deputy head of the citizen protection desk at the department; Vu Hong Nam, former Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan; Nguyen Hong Ha, former Vietnamese Consul General in Osaka, Japan; Ly Tien Hung, former official of the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia; and Vu Ngoc Minh, former Vietnamese Ambassador to Angola.

Other defendants, who are also prosecuted for taking bribes, are from the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Transport, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, the Ministry of Public Security, the People’s Committees of Hanoi and Quang Nam province, including Vice Chairman of the Quang Nam Provincial People's Committee Tran Van Tan, and Vice Chairman of the Hanoi Municipal People's Committee Chu Xuan Dung.

Those who are prosecuted for abusing positions and power while carrying out official duties specified in Article 356 of the Penal Code include Tran Viet Thai, former Ambassador of Vietnam to Malaysia; Nguyen Le Ngoc Anh, Nguyen Hoang Linh, and Dang Minh Phuong, former staff members of the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia.

The authorities also prosecuted 23 defendants for giving bribes; four others for brokering bribery; one for fraudulently appropriating property and giving bribery; and one another for fraudulently appropriating property.

This is a particularly serious and complicated case, that occurred in the context of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic concerning many agencies, organisations and authoritised units in and outside the country, causing public concern. The defendants took advantage of the COVID-19 situation to gain personal profits despite the legal provisions, infringing on the proper operation of State agencies, seriously affecting Vietnam's reputation in the international arena, and undermining the people's trust.

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