Defendant Nguyễn Thanh Phong, former director of the Vietnam Food Safety Department, Ministry of Health. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The first-instance trial of 55 defendants in a bribery case involving the Food Safety Authority (VFA) under the Ministry of Health is scheduled to commence on January 5, according to a decision issued by the Hà Nội People’s Court on Monday.

The hearing is expected to last 10 days.

Two former directors of the VFA, Nguyễn Thanh Phong and Trần Việt Nga, along with two deputy heads, Nguyễn Hùng Long and Đỗ Hữu Tuấn, and 30 subordinates, have been prosecuted by the Supreme People’s Procuracy for 'receiving bribes' under Article 354 of the Penal Code. Meanwhile, 21 defendants from enterprises and service providers have been charged with 'offering bribes' under Article 364.

According to the indictment, the VFA is a specialised agency under the Ministry of Health, responsible for advising and assisting the minister in State management and law enforcement related to food safety. However, between 2018 and 2025, several officials and specialists at this agency allegedly abused legal regulations to solicit and accept bribes in exchange for the appraisal and issuance of various permits. These included product registration certificates, advertising content confirmations, post-production appraisals, and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certificates.

To expedite the processing of their dossiers, several service providers and businesses allegedly colluded with VFA specialists to pay “unofficial fees”.

Prosecutors alleged that Phong allowed, in principle, VFA specialists to collect illegal payments of between VNĐ5 million and VNĐ10 million (US$190–380) per dossier from applicants, in addition to the prescribed fees. The illicit proceeds were allegedly shared among Phong and his subordinates.

Nga, who served as deputy director of the agency from 2018 to 2024 and as director from 2024 until her arrest, was responsible for approving advertising content certificates. She allegedly required that at least VNĐ2 million per dossier be paid to agency leaders. After receiving the bribes, specialists reportedly passed between VNĐ2 million and VNĐ3.5 million per dossier to Nga.

From 2020 to 2023, Nguyễn Năng Mạnh, chief executive officer of MediPhar and MediUSA, allegedly paid more than VNĐ1 billion to agency officials in exchange for preferential treatment, including VNĐ330 million paid to Phong.

The Supreme People’s Procuracy concluded that Phong, Nga, and 32 subordinates abused their powers to receive more than VNĐ107 billion in bribes from 21 corporate and individual defendants.

Phong and Nga were identified as the leaders of the bribery operation. Phong allegedly gained VNĐ43.9 billion for personal benefit, while Nga benefited VNĐ8 billion. Long allegedly received VNĐ8.6 billion, and Tuấn VNĐ4.3 billion.

In addition, prosecutors charged 21 defendants with offering bribes totalling VNĐ77.4 billion. A further VNĐ27.5 billion allegedly paid in bribes remains under investigation by the police.

Mạnh is accused of offering bribes worth VNĐ3.4 billion but is currently being prosecuted separately by the Ministry of Public Security’s Police Agency for Investigation for producing counterfeit food products and violating accounting regulations with serious consequences. Investigators have therefore separated the bribery-related materials for further investigation to handle all offences in one case. VNA/VNS