Chu Ngoc Anh – former Chairman of Hanoi and former Minister of Science and Technology, convicted in Viet A case for “violating regulations on management and use of state assets causing loss and waste.”
In January 2024, Chu Ngoc Anh was sentenced to 3 years in prison by the Hanoi People’s Court. According to the state-controlled media, at the trial, he admitted to receiving $200,000 (VND5 billion) as “thank you” money from Phan Quoc Viet, General Director of Viet A Company.
Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper, on August 2, reported, “Ministry of Public Security: Chu Ngoc Anh, if eligible, will be considered for amnesty.” The news said that on the morning of the same day, the Office of the State President held a press conference to announce the decision on amnesty in 2024, by State President To Lam.
At this press conference, Deputy Minister of Public Security Le Quoc Hung said that Chu Ngoc Anh “will be treated equally like all other prisoners,” if eligible, he will be considered for amnesty.
On Vietnamese social networks, many opinions assessed that this news was not surprising. On January 9, at the first instance trial, the lawyer requested that Chu Ngoc Anh be given a sentence equal to the time spent in detention. Accordingly, during the hearing, Ngoc Anh’s defense lawyer said that his client’s violations were not dangerous enough for criminal prosecution. The lawyer’s request, as well as Chu Ngoc Anh’s failure to appeal the first instance verdict, are believed to be to pave the way for him to have “sentence reduction in accordance with the procedure.”
Chu Ngoc Anh was probed by the Ministry of Public Security and his residence was searched, on the grounds that he had received a bribe of $200,000 from Phan Quoc Viet, at his office at the Ministry of Science and Technology. However, in the subsequent investigation conclusion, the Ministry of Public Security ignored the charge of “receiving bribes” of Ngoc Anh, considering it only an act of receiving gifts, but he did not demand or exert pressure for that.
Before the trial of the Viet A case, Chu Ngoc Anh asked his family to pay VND4 billion to “remedy the consequences.” This is the amount of money for which he was convicted of “receiving bribes” from Phan Quoc Viet – Director of Viet A Company.
The payment of money to “remedy the consequences” and the admiting guilt helped Chu Ngoc Anh be recognized by the court as having “mitigating factors” at the same time, because he is a “family with meritorious services to the Revolution” and he has been awarded many medals and certificates of merit, the court also considered it. During the Covid 19 pandemic, Phan Quoc Viet’s Viet A Company was accused of buying cheap biological products from abroad and mixing them to create Covid-19 test kits. Chu Ngoc Anh, Minister of Science and Technology, knew that the research topic of the test kit was state-owned, but still signed decisions, assigning Viet A Company to coordinate research with the Military Medical Academy. His actions led to nearly VND19 billion of the state budget being spent for the wrong purpose.
According to Article 354 of the Criminal Code 2015- amended in 2017, the crime of accepting bribes is stipulated as follows: “Clause 4. Committing a crime in one of the following cases shall be punished by 20 years in prison, life imprisonment or death:
- a) The bribe is money, property or other material benefits worth VND1 billion or more;
- b) Causing property damage of VND5 billion or more.”
According to insiders, Chu Ngoc Anh is a member of the Hanoi political faction. It is known that within the Party, political forces in Hanoi, Nghe An and Ha Tinh are factions that unconditionally support General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Members of these factions are rarely disciplined, and if they are, to the extent that they are forced to do so, they will find ways to have reduced sentences.
That is also the reason why former Minister Chu Ngoc Anh, despite receiving $200,000 directly from Phan Quoc Viet, was not prosecuted for “taking bribes” in the Viet A scandal.
Tra My – Thoibao.de
