Vietnam’s deputy foreign minister detained for alleged bribes

HANOI, Apr 15, 2022, Bloomberg. Police detained Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung as part of an investigation into bribery accusations while he organised repatriation flights for Vietnamese abroad during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement on its website, Bangkok Post reported.

A former officer of the Ministry of Public Security’s Immigration Department and an officer at the Ministry of Health have been detained in the investigation, according to the statement.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and health ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The government has organised about 800 repatriation fights that have brought home more than 200,000 Vietnamese from over 60 countries and territories, VnExpress news website reported. Police have also detained several other officials in the foreign affairs ministry’s consular department during its investigation, the news website reported.

Dung was assigned to be Vietnam’s ambassador to Japan and the Marshall Islands in January, a position which he has yet to take, the newspaper Nguoi Lao Dong reported.