Hanoi (VNA) – The Supreme People’s Procuracy has issued an indictment against former Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Ba Hoan and 27 other defendants in a major case involving alleged bribery, brokerage of bribery and serious accounting violations.
Hoan was prosecuted for charges of “receiving bribes.” Eight other defendants, all former subordinates from the ministry, were also prosecuted on the same charge.
In connection with the case, Nguyen Son Lam, Director of Thanh Do Law Firm LLC, was indicted for “brokering bribery.” Several other defendants face charges of “violating accounting regulations causing serious consequences,” including Nghiem Quoc Hung, Chairman and General Director of the Hoang Long Company; Nguyen Duc Nam, Chairman of the Sona Company; and Nghiem Van Dinh, Director of the Incoop3 Company.
According to the indictment, between 2017 and 2025, officials at the former Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs committed violations during the appraisal process for applications submitted by 28 companies seeking licenses to send Vietnamese workers abroad under labour contracts, as well as four companies applying for approval documents related to overseas labour supply agreements.
Specifically, Hoan and Tong Hai Nam, former Director of the Department of Overseas Labour Management, instructed subordinates to deliberately prolong appraisal procedures and create administrative obstacles in order to pressure businesses into making illicit payments totaling more than 30.2 billion VND (approximately 1.2 million USD).
In the licensing process, Nam allegedly directed two officials from the department’s legal affairs division, Nguyen Thanh Hung and Phan Thi Thu Trang, to repeatedly return applications and request additional documents, thereby delaying approvals and compelling enterprises to pay unofficial “processing costs.”
Businesses were allegedly asked to pay between 100 million VND and 400 million VND in exchange for obtaining or renewing licenses. Part of the money was reportedly transferred to Nam as “external relations expenses” linked to the submission of licensing documents to ministry leaders for approval. Investigators said a portion of those funds was subsequently passed on to Hoan.
The investigation concluded that between 2017 and 2025, the defendants received more than 9 billion VND in bribes related to the issuance of 29 licenses for 28 enterprises. Prosecutors alleged that Hoan personally benefited by approximately 1.4 billion VND, including 950 million VND in cash and two luxury watches valued at 450 million VND.
The indictment also details alleged bribery linked to the recruitment of Vietnamese workers for the Republic of Korea’s shipbuilding sector under the E7 visa programme.
According to investigators, Nam allegedly introduced unlawful appraisal procedures for E7 labour export contracts after receiving approval from Hoan. The process created additional barriers for businesses and enabled officials to solicit informal payments.
From 2021 to April 2025, representatives of several laboor export companies allegedly delivered 281,800 USD and 190 million VND to officials at the Department of Overseas Labour Management, including Hoan and Nam, during the processing of E7 visa-related applications.
Regarding accounting violations, prosecutors determined that from 2020 to 2025, companies operated by Hung, Nam and Dinh maintained two separate accounting systems after collecting fees from workers seeking overseas employment.
Authorities alleged that more than 1.24 trillion VND was kept off the official books and not fully declared for tax purposes, resulting in corporate tax losses estimated at 244 billion VND to the State budget./.
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