Ho Van Bup, the former director of the Center for Mechanical Transport Practice Skills (the Center), faces trial on 10/3 at the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court. He is charged with multiple offenses, including bribery; abuse of power while on duty; falsification of documents; and illegal trading of invoices and state budget collection receipts. These charges stem from alleged misconduct during his tenure, beyond the tax evasion scheme.

Tran Ngoc Nhan, an inspector and head of the audit team, and Tran Thi Thanh An, a specialist and team member, both formerly with the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department, have been indicted on charges of receiving bribes.

The case also involves 26 other defendants. These individuals include Bup's subordinates and leaders and staff from other driving training centers affiliated with the former Central III College of Transport - Ministry of Transport. They face charges for: bribery; abuse of power while on duty; falsification of documents; and illegal trading of invoices and state budget collection receipts.

Ho Van Bup (left) was arrested on 23/6/2023. Photo: Nhat Vy

Billion-VND 'night deal' uncovered

According to the indictment, on 27/6/2022, the former Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department established an audit team to examine the Center's tax records from 2012 to 2021. The audit, scheduled for 10 working days, included Tran Ngoc Nhan and Tran Thi Thanh An.

Before the audit, An, who was responsible for the Center's district, requested Ngo Thi Han Ly, the chief accountant, to provide accounting documents from 2008 to 2021 for the inspection. An also gave Ly Nhan's phone number for data submission. Between 13/4 and 10/5/2022, Ly sent various accounting documents to Nhan via email.

On 20/6/2022, Nhan and An met with Ho Van Bup in his office. The two tax officials informed him they had discovered numerous declaration violations that could lead to back taxes totaling over 40 billion VND.

Bup subsequently proposed a "payment" to have the violations overlooked and avoid the substantial back tax amount. Nhan and An agreed to accept one billion VND in exchange for ignoring the tax errors and providing guidance on legalizing explanations for revenue-expenditure discrepancies.

Following the meeting, Bup informed Nguyen Van Duong, the deputy director, and Ngo Thi Han Ly that "the audit team demanded 1.6 billion VND to dismiss all violations". He then instructed them to withdraw savings and collect cash from funds identified as "falsely inflated" gasoline expenses for practical training instructors, which he then misappropriated.

At noon on 27/6/2022, Ly and the cashier went to the bank to withdraw three savings books, totaling over one billion VND. Ly then received additional money from Duong to reach the 1.6 billion VND target, consisting of 32 stacks, each containing 50 million VND. This money was then delivered to Bup in his office.

Later that same day, when Nhan and An arrived, Bup handed An a bag containing one billion VND, comprising 20 stacks of 50 million VND each. He told her, "I'm counting on your help, no matter what it takes."

Investigation results revealed that the one billion VND consisted of: 446 million VND in bribery money; 114 million VND in taxes due; and the remaining 440 million VND for accounting services.

The next day, Nhan emailed Ly documents explaining the revenue-expenditure discrepancies for printing and signature confirmation. By 1/7/2022, An returned 114 million VND to Ly for deposit into the state budget.

Bup later informed Duong and Ly that he had only given one billion VND to the two tax officials and would be responsible for returning the remaining 600 million VND.

14 individuals from four centers at the time of their arrest. Photo: Police provided

Over 2,200 paid for 'fast track' driving licenses

In addition to the bribery, Bup is accused of organizing 50 training courses and issuing vocational car driving certificates for B1, B2, and C categories to over 3,800 students between 10/2021 and 9/2022, during his directorship. Many students did not complete the required study hours or meet graduation exam conditions, leading to a high failure rate and a decline in exam registrations. This situation threatened the Center's operational funding.

To address this, Bup instructed staff and instructors to forgo centralized learning and falsely sign attendance records and test papers to legalize student files. Despite not providing practical training as mandated, Bup directed the falsification of visiting instructors' signatures and fabricated teaching records. This allowed the Center to issue irregular certificates to over 3,800 students, causing losses exceeding 14.69 billion VND.

Bup and his accomplices also allegedly misused over 13 billion VND intended for fuel expenses for practical instructors. This money was diverted to brokers who brought student applications to the Center and for other personal purposes. Bup directed his subordinates to create fabricated fuel purchase contracts with businesses to legitimize payment records and conceal the violations.

Authorities also discovered that Bup allowed training staff to collect a fee of 500,000 VND per application from students seeking a "fast track" to learning and testing. In total, the Center collected over 1.1 billion VND in such fees from more than 2,230 students.

Within the scope of this case, authorities also accuse defendants from four other centers affiliated with Central III College of Transport of similar illegal activities, issuing certificates to over 12,000 additional students.

Hai Duyen