Former deputy foreign minister may face jail term of 13 years

HCMC – After five days of trial on the Covid-19 repatriation flight scandal, the Hanoi People’s Procuracy has proposed sentences for 54 defendants, with To Anh Dung, former deputy foreign minister, likely facing a 13-year jail term.

Regarding the group of 21 bribe receivers, Pham Trung Kien, former secretary of Deputy Health Minister Do Xuan Tuyen, might receive capital punishment for accepting VND42.6 billion in bribes in 253 instances.

The prosecution has also recommended the court to look into the responsibility of Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen in the second phase of the case.

Nguyen Quang Linh, who served as assistant to Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, faces a potential sentence of 7-8 years’ imprisonment for receiving bribes of VND4.2 billion.

To Anh Dung, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, accused of receiving VND21.5 billion in bribes, could be sentenced to 12-13 years in prison.

Nguyen Thi Huong Lan, former head of the Foreign Ministry’s Consular Department, and her deputy Do Hoang Tung took around VND25 billion in bribes, so they could face a potential prison sentence of 18-19 years.

Chu Xuan Dung, former vice chairman of the Hanoi City People’s Committee, may be sentenced to 12-13 years in prison for taking bribes of VND2 billion.

The Hanoi People’s Procuracy also proposed jail terms for 23 bribe-givers who are representatives of businesses directly involved in organizing flights to repatriate citizens.

Le Hong Son, former CEO of Blue Sky Company, and Nguyen Thi Thanh Hang, former deputy CEO of the company, are two individuals paying the largest amount of bribes (over VND100 billion). They may be sentenced to 10-11 years and 11-12 years in jail as proposed, respectively.

Among the remaining 21 defendants in this group, the lowest potential sentence is 18 months in prison, while the highest proposed sentence is up to nine years in prison.

For four defendants smoothing the bribery, Nguyen Anh Tuan, former deputy director of the Hanoi Police, was proposed a sentence of 6-7 years in prison.

Hoang Van Hung, former head of Division 5 of the Investigation Security Agency, could be sentenced to 19-20 years in prison for misappropriation of property.

For the group of four individuals abusing power during carrying out official duties, Tran Viet Thai, former Ambassador of Vietnam to Malaysia, faces a potential sentence of 5-6 years in prison.

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