Former cops jailed in $2.6 mln bribery case

Bui Trung Kien, 42, a former police officer of the anti-corruption police department under the Ministry of Public Security, received nine years in jail for “obtaining property by fraud.”

Le Thanh An, 46, another former police officer from the same department, received six years for “brokering bribery.”

Four other people involved in the case – two businessmen, a lawyer and a Buddhist monk – charged with “brokering bribery,” were sentenced to three and nine years in jail.

Between March and July 2021, the defendants had received bribes worth $2.67 million from Nguyen Minh Quan, former director of Thu Duc Hospital in HCMC’s Thu Duc City to help him escape charges, the indictment said.

Quan had first approached Kien, who demanded $2.2 million for his help. As Quan’s hospital was still not spared from inspections from Kien’s department, he asked for the money back and Kien returned $1.15 million.

Quan then reached out to the other defendants.

They also failed to act on their promises, so Quan reported them all to the police. By doing that before the case was exposed, he was not charged for giving bribes.

The court decided that the bribe money will be seized and put into the state budget.