Former chief government inspector Tran Van Truyen was found to own huge assets shortly after he retired. Most of the assets were then disclosed to have been made illegally and recovered by the government. The case shocked the public for a long time.

Recently, new findings revealed two good followers of Truyen who held smaller positions but also boasted similar-sized assets.

They are Hoang Sy Binh, former director of Thanh Hoa Province's Department of Health, and Tran Khieu, former chairman of Tra Vinh Province People's Committee, who both have just retired.

Dan Viet Newspaper recently ran an article about Binh's real estate empire uncovered right after his retirement.

"Binh recently broke ground on a villa project which is estimated to cost VND20 billion (USD900,000),"  the article said.

A villa built after Hoang Sy Binh retired. Photo by Thanh Tra

The article also questioned about the origin of Binh's assets.

"Do Binh's assets have any connection with his violations in the illegal recruitment of 3,721 staff and illegal appointment of a number of other officials in the health department of Thanh Hoa?" the article wrote.

It is estimated by former Chief Inspector of the Hanoi Party Committee, Tran Trong Duc that a position at a state agency would cost hundreds of millions of dong, then how much should Binh earn after arranging 3,721 positions?

The story about Tran Khieu was also published recently by the Dan Viet Newspaper which told about his opening of a VND-15-billion (USD675,000) bar for a member of staff who was suspected of being his girlfriend.

Former chairman of Tra Vinh Province People's Committee, Tran Khieu, besides a construction project for a member of his staff. Photo by Dan Viet

The article quoted the former chairman of Tra Vinh Province as saying that besides the bar, he and the woman also have a restaurant in Duyen Hai District and an auction company.

However, Khieu then claimed the information was incorrect and denied what he had said earlier.

Truyen, Binh, and Khieu are just some examples of those state officials who always declare modest assets during their time in office but then suddenly become millionaires and billionaires right after retiring.

NA deputy Duong Trung Quoc once said that he felt extremely sorry for many Vietnamese state officials when reading their asset declarations. 

"They are all so poor due to modest income," Quoc said. "How can the citizens can become rich when our state officials are so poor!?”.

However, many of these poor officials have turned out to be extremely rich with assets amounting to tens or hundreds of billions dong just months after leaving their office.

How can they accumulate such huge assets in just a short time?

Have they suddenly become talented entrepreneurs or do their properties just come from corruption?

It is hoped that local inspectors will soon carry out investigations and find out the origins of their windfalls.

Dtinews