National Assembly official allegedly abuses power to gain hundreds of thousands of dollars

Luu Binh Nhuong, former deputy head of the National Assembly's People's Aspirations Committee, stands accused of gaining hundreds of thousands of dollars from abusing his power at the NA, police of the northern province of Thai Binh said, without providing further details.

Nhuong’s arrest in November followed an investigation into a man named Pham Minh Cuong, 37, for extracting protection money from businesses licensed to mine sand in tidal flats in Thai Binh.

Investigation found Cuong's operation was challenged by some local gangs. He asked Nhuong, who he treated as an adoptive father, to make Thai Binh authorities intervene to stop those gangs from troubling him.

Cuong has been arrested for appropriating others' properties. Investigation found he had extracted VND5 billion (US$205,460) from the sand-mining businesses between 2020 and 2022.

Nhuong, 60, holds a Ph.D in economic law. He was appointed the deputy head of the People’s Aspirations Committee in September 2018.