Denounce corrupt Vietnamese officials to get reward of up to over $475,000

Denounce corrupt Vietnamese officials to get reward of up to over $475,000

The Vietnamese Government Inspectorate has issued an inter-ministerial circular draft under which denunciators of corruption will be rewarded with up to over VND10 billion (US$475,000) in a bid to encourage everybody to take part in the fight against corruption.

>> Ex-leaders of Vinalines get death in $19 mln corruption case>> Tycoon, ex minister indicted in high-profile case >> Ex-Vietinbank official gets life in $188 mln swindling case

The Inspectorate is collecting opinions and feedback on the circular, which provides regulations on the establishment, management, and use of a reward fund for anti-corruption.

Under the draft law document, corruption denunciators will be conferred with three levels of merits: the Certificate of Merit by the Government Inspectorate, the Certificate of Merit by the Prime Minister, and the Medal of Courage by the State President – the highest level.

In addition, respective recipients of the three above merits will also be given a cash award equivalent to 30 times, 60 times, and 90 times the minimum wage.

The current minimum wage is VND1.15 million ($54.5) per month (under Decree 66/2013 by the government that took effect on August 15, 2013).

Particularly, a recipient of the Medal of Courage will be rewarded with an additional bonus equal to 20 percent of the amount recovered from the corruption case denounced by him or her, but this extra award must not exceed VND10 billion ($475,000).

According to the draft circular, the Reward Fund for Anti-Corruption will have an initial budget of VND5 billion ($237,500) for its first year of operation.

The sum will come from a deduction by the Government Inspectorate from the amounts that have been recovered from corruption cases.

From its second year onward, the fund will annually receive an amount equal to 30 percent of the total recovered from corruption cases during the year.

However, under a regulation in the draft circular, the fund’s maximum budget is limited to VND30 billion ($1.425 million).

Last year the inspection sector itself uncovered 45 corruption cases involving 99 offenders who caused a total loss of VND354 billion ($16.8 million), of which VND299.6 billion has been recovered, the Inspectorate reported.

Some striking corruption cases

Last year saw many large corruption cases put to trial, attracting special attention from the public.

One such notable case occurred at Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) in 2008, causing a loss of VND366 billion (now $17.3 million) to the state budget.

The malpractice involved 10 defendants, of whom Duong Chi Dung, former chairman of Vinalines and former head of the Vietnam Maritime Administration, and Mai Van Phuc, former head of the Transport Ministry’s Transport Bureau and former Vinalines general director, were both sentenced to death on December 16, 2013.

The two ex-officials were charged with “intentionally violating state regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences,” and “embezzlement.”

As the two formers and some other defendants have appealed their sentences, an appeal hearing has been scheduled to open on April 22 this year.

Another large swindle was unearthed in 2011, concerning Huynh Thi Huyen Nhu, a former banker at the state-owned Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank) and 22 other defendants.

On January 27, Nhu was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of “swindling to appropriate assets” and “counterfeiting seals and materials of agencies and organizations.”

She was discovered appropriating nearly VND4 trillion ($189.8 million) from three banks, nine companies, and three individuals.

Nhu and some other defendants have appealed. An appeal trial will be held for them in the near future.

One more high-profile case that happened at the Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) involved eight defendants including a well-connected banker and powerful tycoon, Nguyen Duc Kien, and former Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Xuan Gia.

Kien has been charged with four offences, including illegal trading, swindling to appropriate assets, intentionally acting against the state’s economic management regulations and causing serious consequences, and tax evasion.

Kien and his accomplices have been alleged to cause a total loss of VND1,700 billion ($80.6 million) to ACB.

The first instance trial for this scandal was slated for April 16 but on April 4, six lawyers who defend Kien and other defendants sent a petition to many competent agencies asking for a delay.

The trial should be postponed until after the appeal hearing for Huynh Thi Huyen Nhu is complete so that the exact losses caused by Kien and his accomplices can be determined, since there is some connection between the fraud at ACB and that at Vietinbank, the lawyers said.

The petition has been submitted to and is being considered by the Hanoi People’s Court, the Hanoi People’s Procuracy, the Central Party Committee’s Internal Affairs Commission, and some other agencies.

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