The Ministry of Public Security recently sent an official letter to the Ministry of Finance, providing detailed guidance on initiating criminal investigations for acts of evading social insurance (BHXH), health insurance (BHYT), and unemployment insurance (BHTN) contributions. This initiative aims to address practical difficulties and facilitate social insurance agencies in proposing criminal prosecutions under articles 214, 215, and 216 of the Penal Code.

The Ministry of Public Security has requested social insurance agencies to develop, compile, and prepare criminal investigation proposals. These proposals must include relevant legal documents, records, and evidence, which can be originals, certified copies, or electronic data conversions.

Police require that each dossier for a criminal investigation proposal must contain a written request from the social insurance agency, complaints or denunciations from individuals or organizations, and inspection or verification reports. Additionally, specific requirements for dossier components will vary depending on the nature of the alleged crime.

Workers submit applications at the Ho Chi Minh City employment service center, June 2025. Photo: Quynh Tran

Workers submit applications at the Ho Chi Minh City employment service center, June 2025. Photo: Quynh Tran

For cases involving social insurance and unemployment insurance fraud under article 214, the dossier must include records of resolution and payment for benefits such as sickness, maternity, work accidents, occupational diseases, retirement, death benefits, or unemployment allowances. These documents must demonstrate fraudulent appropriation of social insurance or unemployment insurance funds of 10 million dong or more, or causing damages of 20 million dong or more.

Evidence of appropriation or damage to social insurance or unemployment insurance funds includes documents with falsified content, forged papers, non-existent documents, or papers issued incorrectly or without proper authority. Examples include discharge papers, certificates of leave for social insurance benefits, birth certificates, death certificates, and labor capacity assessment reports.

For health insurance fraud under article 215, the dossier should include records of health insurance benefit resolution and payment. These records must indicate fraudulent appropriation of health insurance funds of 10 million dong or more, or causing damages of 20 million dong or more.

Additional necessary documents and evidence include fabricated or forged medical records, fraudulent prescriptions, invoices for medicines with inflated quantities or additional types of medicines and medical supplies, other incurred costs such as examination fees and patient transport, fake health insurance cards, or the use of another person's card.

Regarding proposals for criminal prosecution of social, health, and unemployment insurance evasion for employees under article 216, the dossier must contain administrative violation decisions issued for evasion of social, health, and unemployment insurance contributions from 1/1/2018 onwards. These decisions must be accompanied by inspection decisions, working minutes, verification documents, administrative violation records, and inspection conclusions.

The dossier must also include documents proving evasion of social, health, and unemployment insurance contributions for a period of 6 months or more, satisfying one of two conditions: The evaded amount is 50 million dong or more, or the evasion involves 10 or more people (calculated from 1/1/2018 onwards).

This requires a list of employees who participate or are required to participate in social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance, and work accident and occupational disease insurance, along with minutes of meetings regarding employee insurance contributions.

Workers process unemployment insurance applications at the Hanoi employment service center, April 2025. Photo: Hoang Giang

Workers process unemployment insurance applications at the Hanoi employment service center, April 2025. Photo: Hoang Giang

Where to submit criminal investigation proposals?

According to the Ministry of Public Security, for acts showing signs of crimes stipulated in articles 214, 215, and 216 of the Penal Code, the director of the social insurance agency must sign and send a written request for criminal investigation to the corresponding Investigative Police Agency. Specifically, this includes C03 of the Ministry of Public Security and PC03 Departments of local police.

The dossier must be accompanied by photocopied documents bearing the seal of the provincial or city social insurance agency, or digitized documents as regulated, to verify their origin. If the investigating agency or procuracy requests additional documents, the social insurance agency is responsible for coordinating and providing them fully and promptly.

Previously, articles 214, 215, and 216 of the 2015 amended Penal Code, effective from 1/7/2025, outlined actions related to insurance fraud. While the prison sentences remain unchanged from previous regulations, the fines and the threshold amounts for criminal liability have doubled.

According to statistics from Vietnam Social Insurance, by the end of 2022, delayed contributions occurred across all types of businesses, amounting to over 13,150 billion dong in interest-accruing debt. Specifically, difficult-to-recover debt from bankrupt, dissolved, inactive, or absconded businesses exceeded 4,000 billion dong.