Giving Tet gifts to leaders is strictly prohibited. The law on anti-corruption also requires officials to refuse gifts that are not in accordance with regulations and report them to their agencies. However, in many negative cases that have been exposed, many "Tet gifts" are worth a fortune.
Billion dollar gifts
The Secretariat has just issued Directive No. 26-CT/TW dated November 23, 2023 on the strict prohibition of giving and receiving gifts for the 2024 Lunar New Year. Not only the Secretariat, but also the Government and localities have for many years directed to strictly prohibit subordinate officials from giving Tet gifts to superiors; localities from giving gifts to the central government.
The law on anti-corruption also stipulates that “Agencies, organizations, units, and persons holding positions and powers are not allowed to directly or indirectly receive gifts in any form from agencies, organizations, units, or individuals related to the work they handle or under their management.”
However, control is also very difficult. In many cases brought to trial recently, from the defendants' testimonies, it is shown that gift giving with the motive of profit still occurs and is very difficult to detect, more dangerous than it is like an unwritten law. Many "gifts" are worth a fortune that salaried officials dream of.
In the major case that occurred at Viet A Technology Joint Stock Company, Mr. Chu Ngoc Anh, when he was the Minister of Science and Technology, received a gift bag containing 200,000 USD (equivalent to 4.6 billion VND) from Phan Quoc Viet, General Director of Viet A; similarly, Mr. Pham Cong Tac, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, received 50,000 USD (equivalent to 1.1 billion VND); Mr. Nguyen Van Trinh, Assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister, received 200,000 USD.
In the case at the Department of Education and Training of Thanh Hoa province, an official received a thank you gift of 6 billion VND from Le The Son - Director of Thanh Hoa Books and School Equipment Joint Stock Company. Department Director Pham Thi Hang alone received 3 billion.
In the case at the Department of Education and Training of Quang Ninh province, Ms. Vu Lien Oanh (former Director of the Department of Education and Training of Quang Ninh province), Mr. Ngo Vui (former Head of the Department of Science and Technology) and Mr. Ha Huy Long (former Deputy Head of the Department of Science and Technology) were prosecuted for the crime of Receiving bribes from Ms. Hoang Thi Thuy Nga (Chairman of NSJ Group). Specifically, Ms. Oanh received 14 billion VND; Mr. Ngo Vui received 14.8 billion VND; Mr. Ha Huy Long received 1.395 billion VND and 20,000 USD. Ms. Nga's bribery of Ms. Oanh was confirmed by Ms. Nga through the thank-you gifts during the holidays from 2016-2019...
Mr. Le Nhu Tien, a delegate of the 12th and 13th National Assembly, former Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education, affirmed that giving special "gifts" to superiors is nothing more than a disguised act of bribery.
“This phenomenon has been quite common for many years and is becoming more and more sophisticated. Gifts that show affection, such as a few kilos of oranges or fish from a home pond, are brought by students to their teachers; or when a patient brings a few kilos of rice from his home field to thank a doctor who saved him, it is nothing to talk about. But gifts of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars are no longer normal gifts, but disguised bribes.
In many negative cases that have been tried recently, such as the Viet A case, the rescue flight, the AIC company, etc., people gave each other hundreds of thousands of dollars during Tet. It is clear that this is a disguise, Tet gifts are just a disguise, the essence is giving and receiving bribes to achieve the purpose of profit," Mr. Le Nhu Tien analyzed.
Mr. Le Nhu Tien said that the directive is a bell that rings regularly every year to remind and warn. But besides that, there must be clear solutions and measures to prevent it when in reality, many bribery cases are so sophisticated that people do not go to the house because they are easily exposed, but go straight to the agency pretending to discuss and report on work and then give bribes. People do not only give gifts on holidays, but also take advantage of promotions, new housewarmings, birthdays, etc. to give very large "gifts".
Officials freely receive gifts?
In the Regulation issued under Decision No. 64/2007/QD-TTg dated May 10, 2007 of the Prime Minister, the value of gifts given to cadres, civil servants, and public employees on the occasion of funerals, weddings, traditional holidays and New Year must not exceed 500,000 VND; and the gift giving is not related to the work of the cadres, civil servants, and public employees...
“The regulations are like that, but who monitors the actual value of the gifts? Therefore, no matter what the regulations are, it is not as good as promoting the spirit of self-awareness and self-shame of officials when receiving illegal gifts. Along with the provisions of the law, there must be measures to educate, deter, and widely propagate this issue in the media,” said Mr. Le Nhu Tien.
“The law will deal with both the giver and the receiver of bribes. However, if officials do not accept them but are warned and returned, who would dare to give bribes? As long as superiors are happy to accept them, there will be demand and supply. Those who take advantage to get things done will continue to bribe in the form of gifts,” said Mr. Le Nhu Tien.
In the Viet A case, Mr. Chu Ngoc Anh received a gift containing 200,000 USD, but was only proposed to be prosecuted for "violating regulations on management and use of state assets causing waste and loss".
The reason, according to the investigation agency, is that Mr. Anh did not discuss, negotiate, or reach an agreement with Mr. Phan Quoc Viet, General Director of Viet A, about giving and receiving money, and did not cause difficulties for the purpose of forcing Mr. Viet to give money.
As a minister, Mr. Chu Ngoc Anh cannot help but know the regulation that "people with positions and powers are not allowed to directly or indirectly receive gifts in any form from agencies, organizations, units, or individuals related to the work they handle or under their management."
Mr. Chu Ngoc Anh could not help but know the regulation that people with positions and authority will be disciplined if they receive gifts in excess of a certain amount, which "reminded" him to check the gift bag from Phan Quoc Viet.
Or in the case at the Department of Education and Training of Quang Ninh province, Ms. Vu Lien Oanh, Director of the Department, received a total of 14 billion VND. It is worth mentioning that every time Ms. Nga gave gifts at her office or home, Ms. Oanh opened the bag to check, the minimum amount was 1 billion VND and the maximum was 5 billion VND. Thus, Ms. Oanh was fully aware that the "gift" she received from Ms. Nga was against the regulations.
The degradation of political ideology, morality and lifestyle, combined with weakness in character due to lack of training, has caused many cadres to succumb to "sugar-coated bullets", including disguised "Tet gifts".
Decree 59/2019/ND-CP clearly states:
- Agencies, organizations, units, and persons with positions and powers are not allowed to directly or indirectly receive gifts in any form from agencies, organizations, units, or individuals related to the work they handle or under their management. In case they cannot refuse, they must return the gift to the department responsible for managing gifts of that agency or unit for handling according to regulations.
- For gifts in cash or valuable papers, the head of the agency, organization or unit shall receive, preserve and carry out procedures to submit them to the state budget according to the provisions of law.
- Heads of agencies, organizations and units who violate regulations on receiving and handling gifts, and persons with positions and powers who violate regulations on receiving, reporting and returning gifts, depending on the nature and severity of the violation, shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of law on disciplinary action against cadres, civil servants and public employees and administrative sanctions in the field of management and use of state assets.
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