Former Government Office official receives over 3 billion VND.
According to the investigation's conclusions, from 2020 to April 2025, defendant Ho Thi Thanh Phuong (CEO of TSL Company, later CEO of Avatek Company), along with Doan Huu Luong (Chairman of the Board of Directors of TSL Company) and Nguyen Ha Linh (Deputy Director of TSL Company, Hanoi branch; later Director of Avatek Company) agreed to give over 3 billion VND to Nguyen Nam Khanh (husband of Nguyen Ha Linh, who at the time of the crime was an official of the Government Office) to influence relevant agencies to facilitate the granting of designation licenses for TSL Company and Avatek Company to conduct trials.
The investigation concluded that the defendant Nguyen Nam Khanh , during his time working at the former Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (now the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment ), where he served as Secretary to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, had direct contact with 21 officials from 6 departments and bureaus of 3 ministries and agencies.
Since 2020, during the process of granting testing designation licenses to TSL Company and Avatek Company, Ho Thi Thanh Phuong transferred 3.38 billion VND to Nguyen Nam Khanh to ask him to influence individuals in departments and bureaus across three ministries and agencies to expedite the licensing procedures for TSL Company and Avatek Company.
The investigation concluded that Nguyen Nam Khanh repeatedly called, contacted, and influenced individuals to facilitate and assist in the assessment of applications, leading to the issuance of 33 testing permits for TSL Company and Avatek Company.
Of the total amount of 3.38 billion VND, Nguyen Nam Khanh and his wife, Nguyen Ha Linh, only used 920 million VND for gifts and donations to individuals in various ministries and departments; in this case, Nguyen Nam Khanh is accused of profiting from 2.46 billion VND for personal use. Nguyen Nam Khanh's actions constitute the crime of "Abusing influence over persons holding positions of power to gain illicit profits".
During the investigation, Nguyen Nam Khanh actively cooperated with the investigating agency; he voluntarily offered to have his family deposit 1.36 billion VND into the investigating agency's account to mitigate the consequences.
The phenomenon of "collusion" has emerged.
During the investigation of the aforementioned case, regarding the acts of "Giving bribes" and "Abusing influence over persons in positions of power for personal gain," the Police Investigation Agency determined that there is currently a growing trend of some individuals, including business directors and intermediaries, proactively approaching persons in positions of power within state agencies such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Science and Technology, in order to "establish connections" and negotiate benefits to obtain favorable conditions from these agencies for granting licenses to operate testing services and designating testing services to support state management in various fields.
According to investigators, the payments referred to as "bonuses," "thank yous," or "procedural fees" were in fact bribes, transferred through various sophisticated methods to conceal the legal nature of the act. Their actions not only aimed at personal gain but also directly undermined the effectiveness of state management in the field of testing (a field related to public health and safety).
Furthermore, according to investigators, there are also individuals acting as intermediaries, serving as "bridges" to understand the needs of businesses and the negotiating power of officials. The act of "abusing influence over persons in positions of power for personal gain" is defined as when individuals exploit relationships and acquaintances with people in positions of power within state agencies to seek personal or other benefits in violation of the law. These individuals often leverage social connections, acquaintances, or the guise of "procedural consultants" or "paperwork brokers" to legitimize their criminal activities.
"Notably, bribery related to the licensing and testing sector is not only occurring in individual cases but shows signs of becoming a form of 'underground service,' persisting due to a lack of transparency in the assessment, licensing, and post-licensing inspection processes. This creates a favorable environment for individuals to exploit, forming 'interest groups,' seriously threatening objectivity and fairness in state management," the investigation concluded.
To fundamentally address this situation and prevent recurrence, the investigating agency has submitted a proposal to the competent authorities requesting a comprehensive review of the legal framework and state management of the sampling, submission, and storage procedures in testing; supplementing regulations strictly prohibiting the practice of only creating a "paper" receipt of samples without accompanying physical samples; and strengthening surprise inspections through a "proactive post-inspection" mechanism, instead of relying entirely on submitted business documents…
The investigating agency also proposed studying and adding new offenses for violations in the "testing" sector to create a legal framework for strictly dealing with violations in these areas.
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/co-dich-vu-ngam-trong-linh-vuc-cap-phep-kiem-nghiem-post829800.html
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