Seven more arrested in repatriation flight scam

The Ministry of Public Security’s investigative agency arrested Saturday seven people for violations in the case of giving and receiving bribes related to repatriation flights that brought Vietnamese people home amid the Covid-19 surge.

The agency has put three people under investigation for “receiving bribes”, namely Vu Hong Quang, deputy head of the Civil Aviation Administration’s aviation transport department; Vu Ngoc Minh, former officer of the Vietnamese Embassy in Angola; and Ly Tien Hung, former officer of the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia and now an officer at the Ministry of Education and Training’s department of science, technology and environment.

Three placed under investigation for “giving bribes” include Nguyen Thi Hien, a freelance worker; Dao Minh Duong, board chairman of Vijasun Joint Stock Company; and Nguyen The Dung, director of Sang Trong Tourism and Trading Co., Ltd.

The seventh person, Pham Thi Kim Ngan, an officer of the Government Inspectorate Magazine’s administrative department, has been probed for “bribery brokering”.

So far, the investigative agency has detained more than 20 people related to the scam, many of whom are officials of the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Health and Transport, the Government Office, and the Ministry of Public Security’s immigration department.

Investigators said that taking advantage of the flights to “rescue” Vietnamese citizens from abroad to return home due to the pandemic, many ministerial officials colluded with businesses to reap hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars illicitly.

After the pandemic broke out, Vietnam organized nearly 800 repatriation flights to bring home more than 200,000 citizens from more than 60 countries and territories.

When the flights were deployed, many people complained they had to buy very expensive tickets and go through cumbersome procedures.