Former inspector gets 40 months in prison for accepting bribes
Le Manh Ha (58 years old, former head of the Complaints and Denunciations Inspection Department) was accused of leading a bribery case of 600 million VND and was sentenced to 40 months in prison.
The verdict on the afternoon of March 16 by the People's Court of Thanh Hoa province sentenced four accomplices, former subordinates of Mr. Ha, to 24-34 months in prison, including: Nguyen Quy Dien (51 years old), Nguyen Hung (44 years old), Duong Van Bang (58 years old) and Nguyen Thi Cuc (56 years old)..
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Le Manh Ha (black jacket on the left) and the defendants in court. Photo:Le Hoang |
In connection with the case, Nguyen Gia Hai (47 years old, Director of Hai Lam Enterprise) received 9 months for the crime.Briberyand 12 months in prison for the crimeTax evasion.In crimeBribery,Tran Ngoc Tai (53 years old, Director of Cuong Quy Enterprise) received 24 months in prison; Nguyen Cao Chau (35 years old, Director of Chau Tu Tai Company) received 6 months in prison..
The verdict determined that on April 18, 2019, at the hall of the People's Committee of Thieu Hoa district, the Investigation Security Agency of Thanh Hoa Provincial Police caught Nguyen Thi Cuc (Deputy Head of the Inspection Team, Provincial Inspectorate) red-handed receiving 20 million VND from the accountant of Tung Sam Construction and Transport Company located in Thieu Hoa district. After Ms. Cuc was arrested, the remaining 4 members of the group went to the police station to surrender.
In court, the defendants said they agreed to accept bribes from units with signs of violations and let Ms. Cuc keep the money. After the inspection, they would divide it among themselves and give a percentage as gifts to their superiors.
By the time they were arrested, the group of Thanh Hoa province inspectors had received nearly 600 million VND from many agencies and businesses in Thieu Hoa district while on duty, from March 13, 2019 to April 18, 2019.
The defendants admitted to receiving the money but denied any suggestion or coercion. They claimed that the money was "given by the company". However, the panel of judges affirmed that based on the evidence and documents collected by the investigation agency, the money was received as a bribe.
The verdict determined that many agencies and organizations gave money to this inspection team in different amounts but there was no basis to prove it or it was just "voluntary gifts" so the authorities had no basis to prosecute them criminally.
