30 Individuals Jailed for $45 Million Graft in Vietnam

"I recognise my mistakes and my crime and fully accept the indictment. I would like to ask the court to reduce sentences for my comrades in the most humanitarian manner."

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A court in Vietnam has sentenced 30 people, including several former senior officials, to prison terms for their involvement in a corruption scandal worth $45 million. The defendants were found guilty of bribery, abuse of power, and violating bidding and contracting laws, with one ex-official convicted of taking suitcases stuffed with cash bribes.

Nguyen Van Hau, chairman of the Phuc Son Group, was handed a 30-year prison sentence for spending over $5 million bribing officials to win contracts in over a dozen multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects in three provinces. Prosecutors revealed that Hau would often bring suitcases of cash to other defendants’ offices or private residences to deliver the bribes. “Hau and his group paid over $45 million as compensation for the damages in the case,” according to lawyers.

Former party chief of Vinh Phuc province, Hoang Thi Thuy Lan, received a 14-year prison sentence for taking the largest bribes, amounting to almost $2 million in suitcases weighing up to 60 kilograms. During the trial, Lan acknowledged her mistakes and accepted the indictment, stating, “I recognise my mistakes and my crime and fully accept the indictment. I would like to ask the court to reduce sentences for my comrades in the most humanitarian manner.”

This crackdown on corruption is part of Vietnam’s ongoing efforts to root out graft and abuse of power. In April, the country jailed former deputy minister of industry and trade Hoang Quoc Vuong for six years after finding him guilty of “power abuse” in a solar energy development plan. Vuong had admitted to taking a $57,600 bribe to favour solar power plants in southern Ninh Thuan province, but his family paid the amount back before sentencing.

The communist nation’s anti-corruption drive has seen significant figures deposed, including two presidents and three deputy prime ministers, as well as top business leaders taken down. The verdicts were announced by a Hanoi court, which convicted 30 former officials and 11 businesspeople of corruption that caused damages worth over 1.16 trillion dong ($44.6 million) to the state.

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