On 14/11, Ha Huy Dung, 55, former Head of the Mandatory Treatment Department at Central Psychiatric Hospital 1, and Vu Quyet Tien, 34, former Deputy Head of the department, were sentenced by the Hanoi People's Court. Dung received 14 years 6 months in prison, while Tien received 7 years, both for receiving bribes.

Hoang Lai Nam, 47, residing in Hanoi, was sentenced to 6 months in prison for giving bribes and 5 years for harboring illegal drug use. Tran Thanh Tung, 51, received 4 months for failure to report a crime.

In the same case, nine other individuals were convicted of giving bribes: Cao Xuan Hung, 44, residing in Lang Son, received 18 months; Trinh Trong Phuong, 51, residing in Hanoi, received 3 years; Chu Dinh Thuc, 41, received 3 years 6 months; Vu Manh Cuong, 39, received 18 months; Dang Ngoc Diep, 46, received 3 years; Thai Huy, 45, received 18 months; Nguyen Van Kien, 32, received 30 months; Nguyen Tien Quyet, 26, received 26 months; and Nguyen Van Thao, 41, received 18 months in prison.

These individuals each had two to five prior convictions or were under investigation in other cases. They were undergoing mandatory treatment at Central Psychiatric Hospital 1 due to mental illness.

The defendants in court. *Photo: Danh Lam*

Monthly bribes, portions given to hospital directors

Regulations stipulate that patients in this group must be strictly controlled during treatment and are not permitted to leave the treatment area. However, starting from 3/2023, Dr. Ha Huy Dung, Head of the Mandatory Treatment Department, was accused of receiving money from 16 patients or their family members to allow them to leave the facility. Each payment ranged from 13 million to 116 million dong.

At court, Dung admitted to the acts, stating he received monthly payments of about 10 million dong per person from inmates or defendants undergoing mandatory treatment.

According to the indictment, patients gave money to one of three individuals: Dung, Deputy Head Tien, or Bui Ngan Ha, the Chief Nurse, who is currently absconding. The person responsible for a patient's treatment would receive the payment.

From approximately 2023 to early 2024, these three individuals collectively received an average of about 200 million dong each month. They agreed that each would keep about 20 million dong, with the remainder distributed among the 30 staff members of the department, each receiving 3-4 million dong per month.

Dung also claimed he regularly gave Director Nguyen Manh Phat 20-40 million dong and Deputy Director Nguyen Tuan Dai 5-10 million dong. During holidays and Tet, these amounts could increase to 200 million dong for the director and 100 million dong for the deputy director.

The payments and distribution of money were primarily done in cash, without any records or verifiable documents. Consequently, the prosecution alleged that Dung received nearly 900 million dong in bribes, Tien received 335 million dong, and Ha received 316 million dong.

The prosecution stated that if patients under Dung, Tien, or Ha paid more in a given month, they would redistribute the excess among themselves and reduce the amount given to the hospital leadership.

On 7/8, the investigation agency issued a decision to separate the actions and documents related to the officials and leaders of Central Psychiatric Hospital 1 for further processing.

Patients released from hospital committed additional crimes, traveled abroad

The indictment confirmed that among the patients, Cao Xuan Hung, who was indicted for "fraudulent appropriation of property" in 2017 and began mandatory treatment in 2018, paid a 20 million dong bribe to Head of Department Dung. During one of his unauthorized absences, Hung committed another fraud case and was indicted and arrested by Lang Son Police in 1/2024.

Similarly, patient Chu Dinh Thuc paid 30 million dong and, while outside the facility, committed the crime of "gambling," leading to his indictment by Thanh Hoa Police in 11/2023. Notably, patient Hoang Lai Nam traveled abroad multiple times and committed the additional crime of "harboring illegal drug use."

"When committing these acts, the defendants were fully capable of perception and control of their actions," the People's Procuracy stated.

According to records, during the investigation, the agency directly visited the Mandatory Treatment Department to conduct a roll call of patients. The results on 22/11/2024 showed that all patients subject to mandatory treatment were absent from the treatment area. In five subsequent checks, five individuals remained absent.

The case also involves six other patients indicted for giving bribes who were not present at the treatment area and are currently wanted.

Hai Thu