On April 14, Vietnam’s Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung was detained and probed for allegedly “taking bribes” to approve permits for companies to conduct so-called “citizen rescue” flights during the COVID-19 pandemic. The electronic information portal of the Ministry of Public Security announced this information.
In addition to Deputy Minister To Anh Dung, the Security and Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security also issued a decision to arrest Mr. Pham Trung Kien, an expert in the Department of Medical Equipment and Construction under the Ministry of Health, and Mr. Vu Anh Tuan, a former officer of the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security for the same allegation under Article 354 of the Criminal Code.
Mr. Kien used to work as a secretary of a deputy health minister.
Mr. To Anh Dung, 58 years old, has nearly 30 years of working in the diplomatic service, experienced many different positions related to the fields of international integration, bilateral and multilateral diplomacy…
Mr. Dung was appointed as a deputy minister in 2019. Before that, he was the Director of the Personnel and Organization Department cum minister assistant.
On January 27, Vietnamese authorities arrested four officials of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for allegedly accepting bribes when conducting flights to “rescue” citizens trapped abroad during the past two years due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
Lieutenant General To An Xo, Chief of the Office of the Ministry of Public Security, announced on January 28 that these people had committed violations during the approval process for licensing companies to carry out flights to bring Vietnamese citizens from abroad for personal gain.
Four people arrested were Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong Lan (born 1974) – Director of the Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Do Hoang Tung (born in 1980) – Deputy Director; Mr. Le Tuan Anh (born in 1982) – Chief of Office of the Department and Mr. Luu Tuan Dung (born in 1987) – Deputy of the Civil Protection Division of the Department.
Also related to this case, Ms. Hoang Dieu Mo, born in 1980, General Director of An Binh Aviation Services & Tourism Co., Ltd., was arrested on March 25 for the charge of “giving bribes” under Article 364 of the Criminal Code.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
