Former market management official gets 9-year imprisonment for accepting bribes

The Hanoi People's Court sentenced Tran Hung, former deputy director of the General Department of Market Management, to nine years in prison Thursday for accepting a bribe of VND300 million ($12,700) in a scam involving “fake” textbooks.

The judges said that Hung, 61, had a "good background," but did not merit leniency because he did not confess to his crime. The court also ordered Hung to pay back the VND300 million bribe he was found guilty of accepting.

In the same case, Nguyen Duy Hai, a freelance worker, was sentenced to 27 months in prison for brokering bribes.

Three people from the Market Management Team No. 17, under the Ministry of Trade and Industry's General Department of Market Management, were also found guilty of abusing positions and power while performing their duties.

Le Viet Phuong, former deputy head of the team, received 30 months in prison. Pham Ngoc Hai got a 20-month suspended prison sentence and Thanh Thi Dong Phuong an 18-month suspended prison sentence.

Among the group of defendants accused of producing and trading in counterfeit goods, Cao Thi Minh Thuan, director of the Phu Hung Phat Company, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Thuan had sold more than six million “fake” textbooks to make illegal profits of more than VND30 billion ($1.27 million). The court ordered her to pay more than VND8 billion ($338,000) to the state. Her accomplices were likewise ordered to pay nearly VND22 billion ($929,300) to the state.

As leader of the General Department of Market Management, Tran Hung was identified as having "position and authority" to check the fake textbooks produced by the Phu Hung Phat Company.

During the four-day trial, 35 of 36 defendants admitted to their actions and requested leniency in sentencing.

But Tran Hung insisted that he was innocent and asked that the judges release him. He said the prosecution was completely wrong in accusing him of accepting bribes. Instead, he should have been praised for his anti-counterfeiting achievements, Hung said.

"During my decades as a market manager, no one has been able to manipulate me with bribes," he told the court.

According to the prosecution, after 27,300 fake textbooks were discovered, Thuan and Hai asked Hung to ignore the fraud in return for a payment of VND400 million ($16,900). Hung later "instructed Thuan to change the statement of origin of the textbooks" to make it look as though it had been brought in for storage.

One day in July 2020, Hai took a black nylon bag with VND300 million in cash from Thuan to Hung's office, but the latter asked him to go away. Early afternoon the same day, Hai returned to the office and gave the money to Hung.

Thuan also gave Le Viet Phuong and the Market Management Team No. 17 a total of VND330 million after the Phu Hung Phat Company was let off with an administrative fine. Phuong gave two junior colleagues a sum of VND11 million ($464) each.