Another official arrested in pandemic flight bribery scandal

His arrest was made on Friday as the Ministry of Public Security continued expanding the investigation into the flight repatriation bribery scandal, police announced Sunday.

According to the investigation, Tung, 45, was accused of giving VND50 million ($2,129) to Luu Tuan Dung, former deputy head of the Citizen Protection Bureau under the Consular Department, as a ‘Tet gift’ to a department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Dung was arrested in January 2022.

So far, 54 people have been charged with giving bribes, brokering bribery, receiving bribes, and obtaining property by fraud and power abuse in the flight scandal, according to the Supreme People’s Procuracy of Vietnam.

In April 2020, the government began repatriation flights to bring Vietnamese citizens abroad back home during the pandemic.

Businesses that wanted to organize flights to bring people back had to receive approval from authorities. Applications needed to be sent to the foreign affairs ministry where they they would be evaluated by several ministries.

From 2020 to 2021, authorities approved and organized over 1,000 flights, bringing over 200,000 citizens back home from 62 countries and territories. The foreign ministry alone proposed the government approve 772 flights to bring citizens home.

To “smooth the process,” 20 businesses and over 100 legal entities raised ticket prices and increased costs for those who wanted to return to Vietnam during the pandemic.