Tourism firm director arrested over pandemic flight scandal

Le Hong Son, general director of the Blue Sky Trading, Services and Tourism Company in Hanoi, was arrested by the police of the Ministry of Public Security on Thursday to be investigated for giving bribes.

The same day, Pham Ba Son, a freelancer, was also put under investigation for obtaining property by fraud, although details of the fraud were not clarified.

The arrests were the latest developments in an ongoing investigation regarding a Covid-19 repatriation flight bribery scandal, which has resulted in over 30 people from multiple ministries being arrested, including high-ranking officials like former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung.

The Ministry of Public Security said in June that each repatriation flight earned profits of several billion Vietnamese dong (VND1 billion = $43,600) after deducting costs.

Vietnam had operated around 400 repatriation flights to bring home residents stranded overseas during the global Covid outbreaks.