City police chief suspended after accusation of receiving bribes

On the afternoon of November 30, Thanh Hoa Provincial Police suspended Colonel Nguyen Chi Phuong, Chief of Thanh Hoa City Police, from work for one month, starting from December 3.

According to Major General Nguyen Hai Trung, Director of Thanh Hoa Provincial Police, this was done under the direction of the Ministry of Public Security to facilitate the inspection and verification of the accusation that Mr. Phuong received money to "fix the case".

During the time Mr. Phuong was not running the unit, Colonel Khuong Duy Oanh (Deputy Director and Head of the Investigation Police Agency of Thanh Hoa Provincial Police) was assigned to lead the Thanh Hoa City Police.

Previously, Do Duc Hieu, a former officer of the Thanh Hoa City Police Department's Public Order Police Team, sent a petition to many agencies, saying that Mr. Phuong had received 260 million VND to "fix the case".

According to Hieu, on July 18, he took the Honda Air Blade, which was a confiscated vehicle, out to "repair it as a means of transportation". Hieu's greed was discovered shortly after. The vehicle was taken back to the unit. Hieu was suspended from work, stripped of his military rank, and prosecuted.

From July 19 to the end of November, Hieu repeatedly went to Colonel Phuong's home to ask for "help", giving him a total of 260 million VND three times. However, because he was still being disciplined, Hieu demanded his money back but did not receive enough, so he reported the matter.

In response to the accusations of his former subordinates, Colonel Phuong denied. "If I had received the money, why would I have stripped him of his military rank?", he said, adding that Hieu had been convicted of the crime.Theft of propertywith a suspended sentence.