Thousands game system to steal Covid support money in HCMC

As of Monday morning, over 700 residents of Hoc Mon District had contacted authorities to return the Covid-19 support money they got during the third round of distribution. They were found to have employed numerous tricks to receive the money several times.

Some falsely declared certain information, taking advantage of the fact that people aged 14 and under have yet to have personal IDs, to collect support money many times over, or used their husbands and wives' address to sign up for Covid-19 support.

Le Thuy My Chau, deputy chairwoman of the Hoc Mon People’s Committee, said besides the many who have voluntarily contacted authorities to return the money, others have remained silent. Authorities are still trying to persuade people to return their falsely claimed support money voluntarily by October 27. After this date, the issue would be dealt with in accordance with the law.

In District 11, around 6,000 recipients did not belong to the categories eligible to get Covid-19 support money in accordance with a resolution passed by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Council.

Tran Thi Bich Tram, deputy chairwoman of the district’s People’s Committee, said authorities would persuade those who had falsely claimed support money to return it.

In Go Vap District, deputy chairwoman Dao Thi My Thu said pressure to distribute the support money quickly, along with faulty and overloaded programs, have led to mistakes.

"The number of people who falsely received Covid-19 support money is quite high. Some were found out promptly, while others were detected too late, so authorities are trying to persuade them to return the money," Thu said.

Nguyen Hong Lam, deputy chairman of the Ward 12 People’s Committee of Go Vap District, said officials went to people's homes to explain the situation. Many people contacted authorities afterwards to return the money.

Such incidents have only recently been reported in certain areas, and there is no comprehensive listing for the city as a whole. The HCMC People's Committee and the municipal Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs are yet to comment on the issue.

Distribution of HCMC's third round of Covid-19 support money, totaling around VND7.3 trillion ($320.4 million) was approved in September. It is expected to help around 7.3 million people robbed of their income sources by the pandemic. Each eligible person is to receive VND1 million regardless of their residential status.

To sign up to receive support, people have to submit relevant information to local authorities. The data would be evaluated by a local committee and be sent to the Quang Trung Software City company to filter out those who have already received support elsewhere.

The final list would be returned to local authorities for another round of evaluation before being approved.

As of October 22, around 5.3 million people have received their Covid-19 support money, accounting for around 78 percent. Another 1.5 million people are yet to receive theirs, and the disbursement is expected to happen until November 7.