The defendants at the first-instance trial at the People’s Court of HCM City on Monday. Photo baovephapluat.vn

HCM CITY — The People’s Court of HCM City on Monday opened the first-instance trial of a high-profile bribery case involving the illegal issuance of criminal record certificates at the National Centre for Criminal Records under the Ministry of Justice.

The trial is presided over by Judge Phạm Lương Toản, Chief Justice of the Criminal Court of the HCM City People’s Court.

Representing the HCM City People’s Procuracy at the trial are prosecutors Nguyễn Thị Châm, Nguyễn Thị Lan Hương, Phạm Quốc Cảnh, Hồ Thị Ngọc Ánh and Trần Thị Liên.

The case has drawn significant attention, with 28 lawyers defending the accused and 108 individuals and organisations with related rights and obligations summoned to appear.

Among the defendants are Hoàng Quốc Hùng (62, former director of the Centre), Lương Nhân Hòa (47, former deputy director), Nguyễn Đình Cảnh (34, former deputy head of the general administration division) and Phạm Quang Hậu (47, former associate at Vicco Law Firm), who are charged with accepting bribes.

Eighteen other defendants are being tried on charges of either accepting bribes or abuse of position and authority while performing official duties.

According to the indictment, in his capacity as director, Hùng directed his subordinates not to record permanent or temporary residence details or residency history on application forms for criminal record certificates.

Instead, applicants were told to use passports rather than national ID cards or citizen ID cards, as passports do not indicate residence information.

Hùng also instructed the centre’s relevant departments to accept, process and issue criminal record certificates for applications lacking the required residence information.

Hùng tasked Phạm Quang Hậu, an associate and acquaintance, to act as a broker to collect applications from individuals seeking certificates. Through Hậu, many people paid bribes to Hùng to have their applications processed.

Hùng demanded that Hậu pay him at least VNĐ700,000 (US$27) per approved certificate. Hậu would collect the money and hand it over to Hùng every Friday.

Hậu, in turn, required his network of brokers to submit between VNĐ750,000 and 850,000 per application, depending on the time. These brokers sought clients via social media, instructing them to submit applications along with VNĐ2 million ($76). After covering costs and payments to Hùng, the brokers pocketed profits of between VNĐ50,000 and 300,000 per application.

From January 2019 to July 2023, Hùng is alleged to have accepted over VNĐ43 billion (approximately $1.7 million) in bribes for processing more than 55,000 applications. Of this sum, Hùng personally pocketed nearly VNĐ39 billion ($1.48 million). To date, he has returned over VNĐ37 billion ($1.41 million) to address the consequences of his actions.

Co-defendant Lương Nhân Hòa allegedly accepted VNĐ8.2 billion ($313,000) in bribes between January 2019 and April 2023 to process 10,946 applications. Hòa paid more than VNĐ7.6 billion ($290,000) to Hậu for transfer to Hùng and kept over VNĐ500 million for himself.

Nguyễn Đình Cảnh, another defendant and former deputy head of administration, allegedly took VNĐ3.5 billion ($133,600) in bribes between January 2019 and April 2022 to process 4,678 applications. He passed over VNĐ3.2 billion to Hùng and retained more than VNĐ200 million.

During the initial questioning, the defendants admitted to the offences as outlined in the indictment.

The trial is scheduled to run from June 23 to June 30, 2025. — VNS