The Commission for Internal Affairs under the Party Central Committee should continue to push for investigations into serious corruption cases of public concern in 2014, the body’s head, Nguyen Ba Thanh, said at a review conference in Hanoi on January 9.

Thanh, who is also deputy head of the Central Steering Committee for Corruption Prevention and Combat, happily declared that just nearly one year after its re-establishment, the commission has helped strengthen anti-corruption efforts. “The Commission for Internal Affairs does not take over the tasks of relevant agencies, but it has the power and the responsibility to monitor and drive forward the handling of corruption cases and crimes,” he said.

Another important task of the commission this year is to review legal documents to find any loopholes that can breed corruption and advise authorised agencies on correction, thus enhancing the effectiveness of corruption prevention, the official said.

In 2013, the Central Steering Committee for Corruption Prevention and Combat was reshuffled and the Commission for Internal Affairs was re-established to assist the steering committee in supervising and inspecting the handling of serious corruption cases.

As a result, three out of the eight serious cases under the committee’s direct supervision have gone to trial; including embezzlement at the Agribank Financial Leasing Company No 2 (ALC II) and the Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines), plus the swindling case at the Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank).-VNA