Stripping of military rank of Thanh Hoa City Police Chief

At 3:30 p.m. this afternoon, January 25, at the headquarters of Thanh Hoa City Police, the Director of Thanh Hoa Provincial Police announced Decision No. 558 (dated January 25, 2019) of the Minister of Public Security on stripping the military rank of Colonel Nguyen Chi Phuong - Head of Thanh Hoa City Police.

Colonel Nguyen Chi Phuong

Previously, Colonel Nguyen Chi Phuong was accused by former officers and soldiers under his command of accepting bribes to fix a case. According to the conclusion of the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Public Security, Colonel Nguyen Chi Phuong's act of receiving money from Mr. Do Duc Hieu (former officer of the Public Order Police Team of Thanh Hoa City Police) shows signs of the crime of accepting bribes.

From the above conclusion, the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Public Security recommends that the Ministry of Public Security take disciplinary action by stripping Colonel Nguyen Chi Phuong of his People's Police title; transfer the case to the investigation agency for handling according to the provisions of law. At the same time, consider the responsibility of 5 other officers and soldiers of the Thanh Hoa City Police who showed signs of covering up crimes.

LikeIt has been reported that recently, Mr. Do Duc Hieu (former officer of the Public Order Police Team of Thanh Hoa City Police) sent an urgent appeal to the authorities, accusing Colonel Nguyen Chi Phuong, Chief of Thanh Hoa City Police, of receiving 260 million VND to help him escape the charge of "property theft".

However, after giving the money to Colonel Phuong, Mr. Hieu was still stripped of his title of People's Police, prosecuted for "theft of property" and sentenced to 9 months of non-custodial reform by the People's Court of Thanh Hoa City. Therefore, Mr. Hieu went to Mr. Phuong's house many times to demand the money back. It was not until November 19, 2018, that Mr. Hieu was called by Colonel Phuong to the office of Thanh Hoa City Police to pay the money, but he only paid 150 million VND, so Mr. Hieu did not accept it.

After Mr. Hieu denounced and the media reported the incident, on November 30, 2018, the Thanh Hoa Provincial Police Department issued a decision to temporarily suspend Colonel Nguyen Chi Phuong from work so that the Ministry of Public Security Inspectorate could verify and clarify the incident, whether or not Colonel Phuong received money to "fix the case". Then, on January 3, 2019, Colonel Phuong was officially suspended from work.

During the time Colonel Phuong was temporarily suspended from work, 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.

Currently, the steps to consider disciplining Colonel Nguyen Chi Phuong and related officers are being carried out by Thanh Hoa City Police and Thanh Hoa Provincial Police in accordance with legal procedures.