Former Vietnam labour deputy minister sentenced to 12 years in bribery case

HANOI, Vietnam – The Hanoi People's Court sentenced former Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyễn Bá Hoan to 12 years in prison on Monday following a week-long trial, with 27 co-defendants also convicted in a case involving bribe-taking, bribe brokering, and accounting violations at the Hoàng Long Investment, Construction and Manpower Supply JSC and related units. Hoan was found guilty of receiving bribes along with eight others, who received sentences ranging from 30 months to 14 years, while 18 others were handed two to five-year jail terms for violating accounting regulations causing serious consequences.

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The Supreme People's Procuracy indictment revealed that from 2021 through May 2025, Hoan, then deputy minister in charge of the Department of Overseas Labour, knowingly allowed then Director-General Tống Hải Nam to direct officials to obstruct companies during licence appraisals for sending Vietnamese workers abroad, forcing companies to pay 100 to 400 million Vietnamese dong per licence under a set rate. During the approval process for overseas labour supply contract registrations, Hoan agreed to let Nam run an unlawful appraisal process that blocked businesses from independently providing required documents, forcing companies to pay approximately $500 per worker for favourable treatment and approval.

Through the scheme, Hoan, Nam, and several department officials received more than 30 billion dong in bribes from individuals tied to 31 companies, while between 2020 and 2025, companies run by the defendants in the labour-export sector maintained dual accounting systems and kept more than 1.241 trillion dong off the books, reducing corporate income tax liabilities and causing state tax losses of more than 244 billion dong. Hoan signed 14 licences and agreed to the unlawful appraisal process for E-7 visa labour supply dossiers, forcing companies to make payments and provide gifts on holidays and Lunar New Year, receiving total bribes of more than 16.3 billion dong.

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The court also ordered the confiscation and remittance to the state budget of more than 30 billion dong in bribes and nearly 6 billion dong in bribe-brokerage fees. The case underscores ongoing efforts by Vietnamese authorities to combat corruption in the labour export sector, which has been plagued by allegations of systematic bribery and exploitation of workers seeking opportunities abroad.