On 6/8, the Hai Phong People's Court commenced the first-instance trial of 22 defendants in a case involving smuggling, bribery, abuse of power, and fraud, which occurred at Tai Loc International Trading Production Co., Ltd. and Customs Branch 2 of Hai Phong Port (now Customs Branch 3).
Among the eight individuals prosecuted for abuse of power are Nguyen Thi Thu Hien (56, former head of Customs Branch 2), Vu Ngan Chau (62, former deputy head of Customs Branch 2), along with former customs officers Nguyen Anh Duc (39), Tran Quoc Hung (51), Bui Tien Hau (37), Pham Van Dinh (55), Nguyen Van Long (56), and Truong Binh Loc (39).
Six other former customs officers, including To Thi Thu Huong (44, deputy head of Customs Branch 2), Trinh Dang Tai (46), Pham Tung Duong (33), Dang Hoang Lan (41), Bui Anh Tien (56), and Vu Xuan Truong (41), are facing bribery charges.
Nguyen Tai Loc (34, director of Tai Loc Company) and four others are being prosecuted for smuggling. Ngo Quang Tuyen (36, former chief accountant of Tai Loc Company) and Nguyen Quang Long (30, service staff) are facing charges of both smuggling and bribery. Nguyen Thi Thuy (44) is being prosecuted for fraud.
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Among the 22 defendants, 14 are former customs officers in Hai Phong. Photo: Le Tan |
Among the 22 defendants, 14 are former customs officers in Hai Phong. Photo: Le Tan
The indictment alleges that between 1/2021 and 1/2024, Nguyen Tai Loc and Ngo Quang Tuyen established 13 companies and borrowed the legal status of three others to carry out smuggling. They falsified declarations and documents, misrepresenting the volume and value of goods, to illegally export 13,376 containers of peeled veneer (thin sheets of wood peeled from logs). The total value of the smuggled goods is estimated at over 1,800 billion VND, with illegal profits exceeding 210 billion VND.
Specifically, Tuyen hired Long to handle customs procedures at the port, enabling them to declare lower volumes than the actual amount. In return, Long would pay customs officials 100,000 VND per declaration and 800,000 VND per container for customs clearance.
Long then contacted customs officer Trinh Dang Tai for assistance in expediting the approval of customs declarations. In 5/2023, when Tai was transferred, Duong took over the role of assisting Long and receiving the payments.
Two months later, Long met with Duong and proposed reducing the customs clearance fee to 600,000 VND per container due to the company's financial difficulties. This was approved by To Thi Thu Huong, the deputy head of Customs Branch 2.
The Supreme People's Procuracy (VKS) determined that after receiving these unofficial payments, the customs officers and leaders of Customs Branch 2 divided the money amongst themselves. The officers handling the customs declarations received the entire 100,000 VND per declaration and 15% of the clearance fee.
The remaining 85% of the clearance fee was given to Huong. Huong allegedly kept 15% of this amount and passed the rest to Dang Hoang Lan, the head of the procedures team.
Lan kept 20% and gave 30% each to Hien (head of Customs Branch 2) and Chau (deputy head), with the remainder allocated for the team's general expenses.
Based on this distribution, the VKS determined that Huong personally benefited by 4.4 billion VND, Lan by 864 million VND, and Tai by 845 million VND.
Hien and Chau, the branch leaders, were aware of the expedited customs clearance and reduced storage fees provided to Tai Loc Company. They overlooked certain steps in the process of receiving, processing, and inspecting the company's goods. Subsequently, they each received 648 million VND from the company through their subordinates.
The trial is scheduled to last three days.
Le Tan
