Three suspects face charges of accepting bribes.— Photo courtesy of the Hà Nội's Police Department

HÀ NỘI — Hoàng Tất Thành, 58, Director of the Northern Mountainous Region Forensic Psychiatric Centre, along with two subordinates, has been prosecuted for accepting bribes, accused of receiving money to falsify psychiatric assessment results.

The other two individuals consist of Lục Thị Thanh Bình, 52, Deputy Director of the centre, and Lại Thành Trung, 46, Deputy Head of the centre’s Paraclinical Department.

The two suspects also face charges of accepting bribes.

According to Hà Nôi’s Police Department, the arrests are part of an expanded investigation into bribery, abuse of power, and misconduct at the Central Institute of Forensic Psychiatry.

The People’s Procuracy of Hà Nội has approved the decisions to prosecute and temporarily detain the three suspects in accordance with legal procedures.

Initial investigations revealed that this year, Nguyễn Thị Mai Anh, 46, and her husband Lê Văn Đông, 47, both undergoing compulsory psychiatric treatment at the institute, used their connections with doctors at the institute to approach the officials at the Northern Forensic Psychiatric Centre.

Through the links, Anh allegedly bribed the trio – Thành, Bình and Trung – on two separate occasions, with a total amount of around VNĐ400 million ($15,300), in exchange for manipulated psychiatric assessments on behalf of acquaintances.

After receiving the money, the trio reportedly falsified medical records to support a pre-existing, incorrect diagnosis issued by the Central Institute of Forensic Psychiatry, even after investigators requested a reassessment.

The police said that despite knowing the individuals in question had not yet lost the ability to perceive and control their behaviour, Thành and his subordinates deliberately included fabricated psychiatric symptoms in the medical files to legitimise the fraudulent conclusion.

The case is part of a wider investigation in which the police have so far prosecuted 40 individuals under three criminal categories.

Among them are 36 officials and staff from the Central Institute of Forensic Psychiatry, as well as Anh and Đông.

The police are now continuing to expand the inquiry and will handle the case in accordance with the law. — VNS