Thousands of Vietnam's criminally corrupt probed in 2023

By Pham Du, Son Ha May 20, 2024 | 03:11 pm PT

Several people stand trial for a corruption case regarding Covid-19 repatriation flights. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

Over 3,000 criminals were put under investigation in over 1,100 corruption cases last year, said deputy prime minister Le Minh Khai on Monday.

Referencing a government report presented to the National Assembly, Khai said authorities’ recent victories in Vietnam’s war on corruption had "bolstered people’s faith."

In the first six months of this year, inspectors investigated 468 criminal cases related to corruption, including several high-profile cases at the nation’s upper reaches of power.

A report by the Supreme People’s Procuracy revealed that several corruption cases involved conspiracies and collusion between state officials and businesses regarding land, natural resources, construction and fuel.

Some of the more major cases included bribery cases at the Phuc Son and Thuan An corporations where many provincial leaders have been arrested, violations at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the massive corruption case reported at Xuyen Viet Oil.

From Oct. 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, the People’s Courts declared the seizure of VND1.662 trillion ($65.3 million) worth of total assets in 69 economic and corruption cases. In 2023 alone, the value of seized assets gained via corruption investigations amounted to a combined VND20.4 trillion, the highest total seen in several years.

However, by November 2023, there was still an estimated outstanding total of VND83 trillion left to be recovered in cases managed by the Central Steering Committee on Corruption Prevention.