On the afternoon of 8/6, during the first-instance trial of 22 defendants charged with smuggling, bribery, abuse of power, and fraud, defendant Tran Quoc Hung (51, a former official at Port 2 Customs Sub-department) confessed to receiving over 81 million VND from a representative of Tai Loc International Trading Production Co., Ltd. after facilitating their customs clearance process.

"This was a voluntary thank you from the business for the officials' hard work in the heat. I did not demand it," Hung said.

When the presiding judge questioned, "Why were there so many thank yous? Would clearance have been granted without them?", Hung asserted, "I would have still done my job. Often, they would thank us days after the clearance was completed."

The investigation revealed that from 1/2021 to 1/2024, Nguyen Tai Loc and Ngo Quang Tuyen established 13 companies and borrowed the legal status of 3 others (collectively referred to as the Tai Loc Group) to smuggle goods. They falsified declarations and fabricated documents to illegally export 13,376 containers of peeled veneer (thin sheets of wood peeled from logs). The total value of the smuggled goods was estimated at over 1,800 billion VND.

During the customs procedures, 92 out of 1,689 declarations from the Tai Loc Group were flagged for thorough inspection. To handle this, Nguyen Quang Long, a service provider hired by Tuyen, approached customs officials for expedited clearance.

Hung and other officials on the team accepted Long's offer, violating inspection regulations, facilitating the business, and receiving over 277 million VND.

Among the 22 defendants, 14 are former customs officials in Hai Phong. Photo: Le Tan

Among the 22 defendants, 14 are former customs officials in Hai Phong. Photo: Le Tan

The customs officials who received the money, like Hung, kept 50% and gave 50% to their deputy team leaders, Vu Xuan Truong and Bui Anh Tien. Truong then gave all the money to Team Leader Dang Hoang Lan and received 20% back. Bui Tien Anh kept all the money for personal expenses.

In addition to the inspection bribes, Long also proposed to Trinh Dang Tai, a second-stage customs official, to help the Tai Loc Group under-report the volume of exported wood to reduce taxes. In return, Long would pay the customs officials 100,000 VND per declaration and 800,000 VND per container for clearance. In 5/2023, when Tai transferred to a different position, Duong took over the scheme.

Two months later, Long met with Duong and proposed reducing the clearance fee to 600,000 VND per container due to the business's alleged financial difficulties. According to the Supreme People's Procuracy (VKS), Long gave Tai and Duong a total of over 8.1 billion VND in "outside payments". At the trial, Long, Tai, and Duong all admitted to bribery.

According to the indictment, officials like Tai and Duong who processed the declarations received 100,000 VND per declaration and 15% of the clearance fee. To Thi Thu Huong, Deputy Team Leader, allegedly received 15% of the remaining 85% of the clearance fees (4.4 billion VND). Dang Hoang Lan received 20% of the money received by Huong (864 million VND). Sub-department leaders Nguyen Thi Thu Hien and Vu Ngan Chau each received 30% of the money received by Lan (648 million VND each).

When the judges asked why the money was divided according to that ratio, the defendants all claimed, "The rules were already in place, but no one knew who established them or when they were established."

Only To Thi Thu Huong stated that she was "told by Khiem (Team Leader) to receive the money from Tai and Duong, then give it to the team leader at the time, whether it was Khiem, Tuyen, or Lan."

The team leaders would then "return Huong's share". However, during the investigation, Khiem and Tuyen denied receiving money from Huong. During cross-examination, all parties maintained their statements, so there wasn't enough evidence to conclude that these two team leaders received money. Therefore, they were not prosecuted and were not present at the trial.

Defendant Lan admitted to receiving money from Huong and accepted the figures in the indictment, which were based on the number of cleared containers. Lan also testified that when giving money to the leaders, he simply said it was "a thank you from the businesses" and that "there was internal trust, and the leaders never complained or checked if the division was correct."

In court, both sub-department leaders, Nguyen Thi Thu Hien and Vu Ngan Chau, admitted receiving money from Lan but could not recall the number of times or the total amount. Chau stated he was "at fault for not closely monitoring and correcting subordinates," while Hien only admitted to receiving "an envelope around Tet (Lunar New Year)".

Defendant To Thi Thu Huong, Deputy Team Leader of Import-Export Procedures, Port 2 Customs Sub-department (wearing a mask). Photo: Le Tan

Defendant To Thi Thu Huong, Deputy Team Leader of Import-Export Procedures, Port 2 Customs Sub-department (wearing a mask). Photo: Le Tan

In this case, the VKS prosecuted eight people for abuse of power: Nguyen Thi Thu Hien (56, former Head of Port 2 Customs Sub-department), Vu Ngan Chau (62, former Deputy Head of Port 2 Customs Sub-department), along with former customs officials 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). Their actions caused more than 75 million VND in losses to the state.

Six other former customs officials were prosecuted for accepting bribes: To Thi Thu Huong (44, Deputy Team Leader, Port 2 Customs Sub-department); Trinh Dang Tai (46); Pham Tung Duong (33); Dang Hoang Lan (41); Bui Anh Tien (56); and Vu Xuan Truong (41).

Nguyen Tai Loc (34, Director of Tai Loc Company) and four others were prosecuted for smuggling. Ngo Quang Tuyen (36, former Chief Accountant of Tai Loc Company) and Nguyen Quang Long (30, service provider) were prosecuted for smuggling and bribery. Nguyen Thi Thuy (44, freelancer) was prosecuted for fraud.

The trial continued for a second day.

Le Tan