A local judicial official was caught red-handed and detained for accepting money from citizens.

On April 25, 2022, the Dien Chau District Police (Nghe An Province) announced that they are temporarily detaining Ta Xuan Ngoc on charges of abusing his position and authority while performing his official duties.

Previously, through intelligence gathering, the Dien Chau District Police conducted surveys in 20 out of 37 communes and towns in the district regarding the difficulties, obstacles, and dissatisfactions of the people.

The survey revealed that many people are dissatisfied with the handling of procedures at the commune-level judicial offices. This includes instances where some officials and civil servants exploit loopholes in legal regulations and a lack of understanding among some citizens.causing corruptionThese individuals create difficulties and extort money from citizens when they need administrative procedures. In particular, some even openly ask people to pay "bribes" to expedite the process.

Given the aforementioned situation, the Dien Chau District Police established a special task force to concentrate their efforts and implement a comprehensive set of operational measures to combat the suspects. During the investigation, the task force encountered several difficulties because the suspects were experienced individuals with a thorough understanding of the law and expertise in various fields. They often employed tactics to conceal, store, destroy, or legitimize documents and papers after committing crimes, making it very difficult to identify the violations.

However, with high determination, the special task force focused on verifying and consolidating documents and evidence to clarify the violations committed by the suspects; at the same time, they devised a plan to arrest the suspects along with the documents and evidence, especially electronic evidence, without affecting the normal operations of the agency or organization where the suspects worked.

Police officers from Dien Chau district are taking statements from suspect Ta Xuan Ngoc. Photo: Hong Ngoc

After gathering and consolidating documents and evidence, and determining that the time was ripe, at 9:30 AM on April 21, 2022, on National Highway 7A in Hamlet 5, Minh Chau Commune, Dien Chau District, the Dien Chau District Police successfully cracked the case. They arrested Ta Xuan Ngoc (born in 1982), residing in Minh Chau Commune, Dien Chau District – a civil servant in the Justice and Civil Registry Department of the Minh Chau Commune People's Committee – for the crime of "Abusing his position and authority while performing official duties"; and seized 10 million VND and documents related to the application for land use right certificates.

During an urgent search of Ta Xuan Ngoc's residence and workplace, authorities seized 108 land use right certificates; 20 million VND; one computer; one laptop, along with many other related documents and evidence. Notably, after Ngoc's arrest, several people called and sent letters to the Dien Chau District Police to report his violations.

Currently, the Dien Chau District Police have placed Ta Xuan Ngoc under temporary criminal detention to continue the investigation and expand the case.

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