There have been... 11 leaders who had to 'take responsibility' for corruption

The Government's report shows that 11 leaders who lacked responsibility for corruption were being examined and held accountable, of which 6 were disciplined with dismissal, reprimand, and warning; 5 are being considered for disciplinary action.

No cases of violations in asset and income declaration have been detected.

According to the report on anti-corruption work in 2016 that the Government has just sent to the National Assembly deputies, more than 1 million people completed the declaration of assets and income in 2015, reaching a rate of 99.1% compared to the number of people required to declare. Of these, 414 people who were required to declare had their assets and income verified.

"The verification mainly serves the purpose of personnel and appointment work. Only a few people are required to verify because during the public disclosure process, there were reports of dishonest asset declarations. Through the verification of assets and income by competent authorities, no violations have been detected," the report said.

However, the Government also acknowledged that the regulations on returning gifts are still formal, unfeasible, and lack specific regulations on sanctions for violations. The implementation of this regulation is not strict, ineffective, and in reality, it is very difficult to control and detect violations because it depends heavily on the self-awareness and ethics of officials and civil servants. In 2016, no violations were detected.

Reporting to the National Assembly, the Government said that through inspections of the implementation of the code of conduct of nearly 2,900 agencies and organizations in ministries, branches, provinces and cities, since the beginning of the year, 119 officials, civil servants and public employees have been discovered and disciplined for violations.

All levels and sectors have transferred the work positions of more than 8,800 cadres, civil servants and public employees. However, some sectors, fields and localities have encountered many difficulties because the regulations on this issue are not close to the characteristics of the situation and need to be considered for adjustment.

During the year, state agencies have provided explanations for 17/17 requests. Ten people were temporarily suspended from work or temporarily transferred to other positions due to violations of laws related to corruption (Ministry of Finance: 4 people; Son La: 3 people; Quang Nam: 2 people; Gia Lai: 1 person).

Notably, 11 leaders who lacked responsibility for corruption were considered and held accountable (Ministry of Finance: 4 people; Quang Ngai: 2 people, Tay Ninh: 2 people; Ho Chi Minh City: 1 person; Thua Thien Hue: 1 person), of which 6 people were disciplined with the forms of dismissal, reprimand, warning; 5 people are being considered for forms of handling).

Cash payments are still common, making it difficult to detect tax evasion, money laundering, corruption, etc.

Dispersing assets abroad, difficult to recover

Assessing the situation and work of corruption prevention, the Government said that corruption is still complicated, occurring at many levels, many sectors, many fields with a widespread level, very serious nature and has not been pushed back. The work of corruption prevention in ministries, sectors and localities is still uneven. Many localities have not done this work well.

The situation of taking advantage of the cultural tradition of gift-giving and gratitude to bribe and extort for personal gain is still quite common. Regulations and implementation of regulations on returning gifts are still formal, unfeasible, and ineffective. There needs to be specific regulations on sanctions and institutionalization by law.

The transfer of positions of cadres, civil servants and public employees in some ministries, branches and localities according to the provisions of law is still not regular, formal and not resolute. There are still phenomena of favoritism and fear of cadres subject to transfer of positions reacting, and there is a lack of inspection and supervision of implementation.

"There are positions that are difficult to transfer, and there are places where there are signs of taking advantage of job transfers to oppress others or gain personal gain.", the report stated.

The government also believes that the number of leaders who have been held accountable for corruption is still small compared to the number of corruption cases discovered. The reason is that there is still cover-up, lack of determination, deference, and avoidance in handling. On the other hand,This preventive measure in many cases puts the leader in a conflict of interest situation. If actively checking and detecting corruption within the organization, they may face being held accountable or affecting the reputation and achievements of themselves and their unit..

In addition, cash payments are still popular, making it difficult to detect tax evasion, money laundering, corruption, etc. However, the legal framework in the field of non-cash payments is not complete, and the technological infrastructure does not meet the requirements.

Explaining the low recovery of corrupt assets, the Government said there are many reasons, including the fact that investigating corruption cases is very complicated and difficult, requiring time to organize verification, collect evidence, appraise, and prove crimes.

"In many cases, corruption occurred for a long time before being discovered. The subjects had hidden, dispersed, and legalized the assets, and had even used most of the seized assets and spent them lavishly, so when discovered, the judgment could no longer be enforced. On the other hand, because the authorities were not resolute and thorough in seizing and handling assets from corruption crimes during the investigation, prosecution, and trial process; some cases encountered difficulties when recovering assets abroad...", according to the report.

According to Dan Tri