In a sweeping crackdown on high-level corruption, a Vietnamese court has sentenced 30 individuals including senior former officials to prison over a massive graft case that cost the state an estimated $45 million, with one defendant accused of delivering bribes in suitcases stuffed with cash.
The Hanoi court, on Friday, issued verdicts for 30 former officials and 11 businesspeople, charging them with bribery, abuse of power, and violations of bidding and procurement laws, according to state-run Public Security News.
The corruption network, linked to infrastructure contracts across three provinces, marks one of the most dramatic outcomes yet in Vietnam’s intensifying anti-corruption drive, a campaign that has already forced the resignations of two presidents and three deputy prime ministers, and toppled some of the country’s most powerful business figures.
According to prosecutors, between 2010 and 2024, Nguyen Van Hau, chairman of the Phuc Son Group, orchestrated a bribery scheme worth more than $5 million to secure lucrative infrastructure deals. Hau allegedly delivered the bribes in suitcases to the private homes and offices of government officials.
Hau was handed a 30-year prison sentence, the longest among the defendants.
One of the highest-profile convictions was Hoang Thi Thuy Lan, former Communist Party Secretary of Vinh Phuc Province, who received 14 years in prison after being found guilty of accepting nearly $2 million in bribes, including suitcases weighing up to 60 kilograms.
In a statement to the court, Lan said: “I recognise my mistakes and fully accept the indictment. I ask the court to show leniency to my comrades in the most humanitarian way.”
Prosecutors noted that Hau and his company paid back more than $45 million in restitution for the financial losses to the state.
This case follows the April conviction of former deputy minister of industry and trade Hoang Quoc Vuong, who was sentenced to six years in prison for accepting a $57,600 bribe related to a solar energy project. Vuong’s family repaid the bribe prior to sentencing.
Vietnam’s sweeping anti-graft campaign, dubbed the “Blazing Furnace” by local media, has dramatically reshaped the political and corporate landscape, with the Communist Party leadership positioning itself as resolute in its fight against corruption — even at the highest levels.
