Nguyễn Thanh Hải, born in 1971 in Hà Nội, is the former head of the department of international relations at the Government Office. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — A department head at the Government Office was detained Tuesday on the charge of receiving bribe in connection with the case at the Consular Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The arrest of Nguyễn Thanh Hải, 51-year-old, director of the Government Office’s department of international relations, was made as part of further investigation into the bribery case, according to Lt. Gen. Tô Ân Xô, Chief of the Office of and spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Security.  

Xô added that the Investigation Security Agency under the Ministry of Public Security is continuing with investigation into the case.

This is the latest development in the case of "giving and taking bribes" at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Consular Department, in Hà Nội and other provinces and cities related to the licensing of the firms that conducted repatriation flights for Vietnamese people during COVID-19 border closures.

During the process of investigation, the agency also launched legal proceedings against and arrested Deputy Foreign Minister Tô Anh Dũng; Nguyễn Thị Hương Lan, head of the Consular Department; Đỗ Hoàng Tùng, deputy head of the department; Lê Tuấn Anh, chief of the department’s office; and Lưu Tuấn Dũng, deputy head of the citizen protection desk at the department, and a number of officials at the Government Office, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Security, all on the charge of taking bribes. — VNS