On November 21, the National Assembly discussed the reports of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuracy; prevention and combat against crimes and law violations; and judgment enforcement and anti-corruption in 2023.

Pham Van Hoa, a National Assembly deputy from Dong Thap, commented that the number of cases of some types of crimes have decreased slightly recently, while others increased. The total value of assets damaged in crimes has increased by 450 percent, the number of murders 12.65 percent, asset robbery 44.4 percent, swindling and asset appropriation 61.52 percent, loan sharking 67.85 percent and public disorder 80.75 percent. Meanwhile, the number of information technology crimes has increased by 200 cases and child abuse 41 percent.

Hoa expressed his worry about new types of crimes, such as kidnapping children for ransom, issuing criminal records, and crimes in vehicle registration and training for driving tests. Organized criminal gangs in printing, buying and selling fake degrees and documents have appeared in many localities. The police have discovered a case of a flight attendant carrying 11 kilograms of drugs hidden in a toothpaste tube.

Noting the armed terrorist incident in Dak Lak province, Hoa said this is a typical case showing the negligence and lack of vigilance of grassroots officials, causing negative public opinion. He stressed that authorities need to strengthen security and order management, learn from experience, and launch a movement to protect national security.

Regarding the Van Thinh Phat case, Hoa said the police have discovered that criminals generated thousands of fake dossiers to borrow and appropriate more than VND1 quadrillion from SCB, including VND500 trillion worth of deposits from the public. The then  chief inspector of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) received a bribe of $5.2 million.

However, Hoa stressed that this is just the tip of the iceberg, implying that there might be other similar money appropriation cases, but they have not been found.

Hoa raised a question if there is collusion between some commercial banks with insurance companies, in which bank officers deliberately give wrong advice about insurance products in order to persuade clients to use their money from deposits to take out life insurance policies. Thousands of individuals have complained about the advice which led to bad investment decisions.

The National Assembly deputy also cited reports as saying that the number of crimes of abusing power to commit embezzlement had increased by 51 percent, and the number of criminals had increased. Particularly, the number of officials accused of taking bribes rose by 346 percent. 

This shows that anti-corruption work in Vietnam was implemented seriously. All criminals will be punished, with no ‘no-entry zone’ and no exception.

Most embezzlement cases have been found having relations with heads of agencies, who exploit legal loopholes to collude with other officials to commit embezzlement for profit.

“In large corruption cases, the heads of ringleaders have been stopped, but other ‘big fish’ have escaped the net and they still have not been found, thus causing difficulties for criminal procedures,” Hoa commented.

“The assets seized from embezzlement cases in recent months are higher than the same periods of previous years, but still below expectations,” he concluded.

Hoa requested the government and appropriate agencies to conduct thorough assessments with a progressive spirit about these problems, and find solutions, especially in serious cases which have serious impact on people’s lives.

Bo Thi Xuan Linh, a National Assembly deputy from Binh Thuan, said she realized after meetings with voters that people are concerned about corruption and negative phenomena. There is also petty corruption and harassment of businesses and people. Particularly, corruption and negative phenomena occur in the agencies in charge of preventing and combating corruption and by the heads of the agencies.

She emphasized that “wherever the leader is highly responsible and resolute in dealing with violations, the work of preventing and combating corruption and negativity is carried out well, and vice versa". Therefore, promoting the role of leaders is an urgent task today.

Tran Thuong