Vietnam courts issue prison terms in major fraud and bribery cases

A Hue court sentenced Võ Nguyễn Hoàng Nguyên, 36, to 16 years in prison for a fraud scheme that duped 37 victims out of more than 10.45 billion VND. Posing as a land‑registration officer, he offered to process land‑use documents, collected cash, and kept the money for personal use, also using a forged tax receipt to swindle an additional 178.84 million VND.

In Hanoi, a reopened trial will hear former Thanh Trì ward chief Đặng Thanh Tùng and five former officials on charges of accepting bribes to turn a blind eye to illegal construction. Prosecutors say the group received a total of about 3.2 billion VND between August 2024 and March 2025, with Nguyên Tùng taking 650 million VND, Trần Văn Quân 900 million VND, Nguyễn Vũ Diêm 820 million VND, among others. Several defendants and relatives have voluntarily returned portions of the illicit funds.