Nguyen Thi Mai Anh, currently prosecuted for bribery, brokering bribery, and property fraud, was the last person to be questioned during the trial held on the afternoon of 29/9 at the Hanoi People's Court. Mai Anh was isolated from the other 64 defendants.

**Claim of "forcing officials to accept money"**

Mai Anh is accused of paying doctors and nurses monthly, covering costs for dozens of trips for them and their families, and sending numerous gifts. The purpose was to gain freedom to leave the Central Institute of Forensic Psychiatry or to have her husband, children, and housekeeper stay with her.

At court, Mai Anh admitted to bribery but denied it stemmed from demands by officials. "Honestly, the institute staff didn't do it for money. I even assaulted security guards to force them to open the gates for me to leave; I 'forced' everyone from gatekeepers to nurses to accept money," the defendant, who has seven prior convictions, rattled off.

Presiding Judge Nguyen Xuan Van, surprised, asked, "You forced them to accept it?" He then informed Mai Anh of the earlier testimonies from the co-defendants, including the director, doctors, nurses, and security guards. All had stated they "were not coerced" when receiving money or material benefits from Mai Anh. They understood they accepted money to cover up wrongdoings, allow escapes from the institute, or falsify records.

The presiding judge explained that Mai Anh's claim of "forcing staff to accept money" does not change the nature of the bribery act. "The money was received, and the misconduct was committed, which constitutes a complete act of bribery."

Regarding bribery to enjoy various "privileges," Mai Anh denied spending as much as 400 million VND to secure a private room with air conditioning. "The institute has four rooms with existing air conditioning. I had a small child and was prioritized; there was no reason to spend a fortune to get into one," Mai Anh countered.

Mai Anh also denied other payments, such as 20-50 million VND to doctors and department heads to allow her husband, defendant Le Van Dong, to escape from the institute multiple times. She stated that Dong was not yet in the institute during that period, so "why would I pay money?"

Defendant Mai Anh at court. Photo: Danh Lam

**Connecting to "fix cases" for 2.5 billion VND**

Mai Anh is accused of having a large team of subordinates who handled various tasks: delivering gifts to police, liaising with doctors, meeting prosecutors, relatives of suspects and defendants, and lawyers. She allegedly connected many instances of "fixing documents" for mental health evaluations and delaying sentence enforcement.

In this case, Mai Anh is implicated in two "case-fixing" incidents involving 2.5 billion VND and 1.6 billion VND.

Mai Anh denied both accusations, claiming she was "wronged" for three reasons.

The defendant explained that she agreed to help because the relatives affirmed their children were "addicted, hallucinating, and truly mentally ill," only asking her to connect them to facilitate the process. She accepted on the condition that they provide necessary documents, which they failed to do.

"I repeatedly called and told them 'it can't be done like that,' urging them to take their money back, but they pleaded and begged for help. So how is that my fault?" Mai Anh stated.

According to Mai Anh's testimony, the price was set by the "officials' side"—specifically, a person named "Trung," an official from Hai Phong Police. Mai Anh then instructed her subordinates to bring a fruit box containing 2.5 billion VND to the Economic Police Department headquarters, Hai Phong Police, for Trung.

"I believe I am unjustly accused because I did not take any money. The person who needed help was helped," the defendant questioned, suggesting that "if guilty, it would only be brokering bribery, not fraud."

However, the trial panel analyzed that Mai Anh held no position or authority, did not work in any relevant professional field, and was herself a suspect and defendant in other cases, yet she claimed the ability to "fix" cases for other defendants.

This deceptive information created trust that led the victims to pay money. In reality, the matter was not resolved, and the money was not returned. This is sufficient to constitute a crime.

Regarding Mai Anh's claim of giving money to police official Trung, the trial panel stated that the investigation agency has separated related documents to clarify this matter.

For brokering bribery to "fix" mental health evaluations and secure jobs at the institute, Mai Anh is accused of receiving 6 billion VND, of which 1.8 billion VND was distributed to the institute's leadership.

In response, the defendant said, "The People's Procuracy should review this, as there are some people I don't even know, so how could I have received money from them?"

Mai Anh claimed many other transactions shown in bank statements were business transactions, unrelated to the case. "I do a lot of business; there are plenty of reasons to transfer money, buy and sell land, or cooperate."

In some remaining instances, defendant Mai Anh stated she only "held money for others and then handed it over to the deputy director and the director's wife," rather than brokering anything. The presiding judge promptly reminded her, "that is brokering." Mai Anh replied, "If so, I did not know."

The trial continued its third day today.

Pham Du - Thanh Lam