Investigations found that some local officials abused their positions and authorities in advising and proposing the Thai Nguyen provincial People's Committee to approve a quarantine policy in the locality for personal gains.

The High-level People's Court in Hanoi rejected the appeal and upheld the sentence of life imprisonment handed down at the first-instance trial for three defendants in the case of “repatriation flights” on December 27.

A court of appeal in Hanoi on December 27 upheld the verdict of the first instance court for three former State officials who had took bribes in the repatriation flight case during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 21 defendants who filed for appeal include former public officers and business executives.

The Hanoi People’s Court on July 28 announced sentences for each of the 54 defendants in the case of “repatriation flights” after three weeks of trial and deliberation.

The Procuracy sought death penalty – the harshest sentence in the case – against Pham Trung Kien, former secretary to incumbent deputy health minister Do Xuan Tuyen.

The People’s Court of Hanoi on July 11 opened the first-instance trial of 54 defendants involved in the "repatriation flight" case with different charges.

Fifty-four defendants involved in the repatriation flight scandal is standing a month-long trial which started in Hanoi on July 11.

The trial is set to be held on July 11 and will continue for a month to decide the outcome of the scandal.

The Prime Minister has decided to force former Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Vu Hong Nam out of his job for serious violations and wrongdoings in work, as a disciplinary measure.

Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung and 53 others have been prosecuted for their alleged involvement in the case of offering, brokering, and taking bribes, abusing positions or power while performing duties, and swindling to appropriate assets.

According to an investigation report, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung received a bribe of VND21.5 billion (nearly US$1 million) from businesses who needed licenses to carry out repatriation flights.

The Ministry of Public Security on March 15 launched probes into a former staff member of the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia and eight others for suspected wrongdoings related to repatriation flights amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The investigation agency under the Ministry of Public Security has issued decisions to prosecute, arrest and search the residences and workplaces of seven more individuals for their involvement in a bribery case at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Three more people, including two former diplomatic officials, have been arrested for their involvement in a bribery case at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Consular Department.

A department head at the Government Office was arrested on September 20 on the charge of receiving bribe in connection with the case at the Consular Department under the Foreign Ministry.