Customs officer who received billions in bribes on trial today

On March 29, the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City tried defendant Nguyen Truong Duy (civil servant of the Customs Control Team - Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department) for bribery.

This trial was presided over by Judge Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh. Defendant Nguyen Truong Duy invited four lawyers to defend him, including Phan Trung Hoai, Do Hai Binh, Hoang Tien Luu and Nguyen Hoang Trung.

Notably, among the 42 people summoned to attend the trial as people with related rights and obligations, there is Mr. Dinh Ngoc Thang, Deputy Director in charge of the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department.

Previously, on September 20, 2017, the trial was opened for the first time. However, during the procedural part, the lawyers requested to postpone the trial to summon more people with related rights and obligations... After that, the panel of judges consulted and decided to postpone the trial.

Just a few days Nguyen Truong Duy received billions in bribes.

According to the indictment, the Customs Control Team is the unit directly implementing customs control to prevent smuggling, trade fraud, and illegal transportation of goods across the border...

Based on suspicious information collected from various sources, the Customs Control Team coordinates with local customs branches to inspect imported goods of organizations and individuals engaged in import activities. During the 2014-2015 period, the Customs Control Team issued many coordination notices but most of them did not detect any violations.

Nguyen Truong Duy is a customs officer, a local scout, with the authority and responsibility to collect information on signs of smuggling... at Cat Lai port, Linh Trung export processing zone to report to superiors.

From January 2015 until his arrest, Duy directly contacted, contacted, and negotiated with business owners and individuals who carried out customs procedures so that they would pay money with the purpose of not having the goods inspected by the Customs Control Team when imported.

The investigation agency has clarified that from December 21, 2015 to December 29, 2015, 50 businesses illegally paid Duy money, the total amount was nearly 542 million VND. Duy received the money at his mother's house and at his office at Cat Lai port.

Based on the criminal report sent by the Department of Security, Finance, Currency, and Investment - General Department of Security, the Security Investigation Agency - Ministry of Public Security arrested and urgently searched Nguyen Truong Duy and seized more than 964 million VND.

Initially, Duy was prosecuted for abusing his position and power while performing official duties. Later, the investigation agency changed the charge to accepting bribes.