Hanoi (VNA) – The Hanoi People’s Court sentenced former Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Ba Hoan to 12 years in prison on August 24 after a week-long trial.
Hoan and 27 co-defendants were convicted in a case involving bribe-taking, bribe brokering and accounting violations leading to serious consequences at the Hoang Long Investment, Construction and Manpower Supply JSC, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, now the Ministry of Home Affairs, and related units and enterprises.
Hoan was found guilty of receiving bribes along with eight others, who received sentences ranging from 30 months to 14 years.
Nguyen Lam Son, Director of the Thanh Do Law Firm LLC, was sentenced to 6 years for brokering bribes.
Eighteen others were handed 2-5 year jail for “violating accounting regulations, causing serious consequences”.
The court also ordered the confiscation and remittance to the state budget of more than 30 billion VND (1.15 million USD) in bribes and nearly 6 billion VND in bribe-brokerage fees.
The Supreme People’s Procuracy said in its indictment that from 2021 through May 2025, Hoan, then deputy minister in charge of the Department of Overseas Labour, knew but allowed then Director-General Tong Hai Nam to direct officials to obstruct companies during license appraisals for sending Vietnamese workers abroad.
The defendants forced companies to pay 100–400 million VND per license under a set rate.
During the approval of responses to registration applications for overseas labour supply contracts, Hoan agreed to let Nam run an unlawful appraisal process that blocked businesses from independently providing required documents. Companies were forced to pay about 500 USD per worker for favourable treatment and approval.
Through the scheme, Hoan, Nam and several department officials received more than 30 billion VND in bribes from individuals tied to 31 companies.
Between 2020 and 2025, companies run by them, all in the labour-export sector, maintained dual accounting systems and kept more than 1.241 trillion VND off the books, reducing corporate income tax liabilities and causing state tax losses of more than 244 billion VND.
Hoan signed 14 licenses and agreed to the unlawful appraisal process for E-7 visa labour supply dossiers. He forced companies to make payments and provide gifts on holidays and Lunar New Year, receiving total bribes of more than 16.3 billion VND./.
