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The Supreme People’s Procuracy has issued an indictment against 28 defendants in the Hoàng Long Investment Construction and Labour Supply Joint Stock Company case, which was previously managed under the Ministry of Labour – Invalids and Social Affairs. The charges include bribery, intermediary bribery, and violations of accounting regulations causing serious consequences.
Nine defendants are charged with bribery. They include Nguyễn Bá Hoan, former deputy minister of the ministry; Tong Hai Nam, former head of the Overseas Labour Management Department; Nguyễn Thành Hùng, staff member of the Overseas Labour Management Department’s office; Phan Thị Thu Trang, staff of the Inspection and Complaint Resolution Division, Overseas Labour Management Department; Đỗ Vân Hương, Acting Head of the Legal Department, Overseas Labour Management Department; Tạ Thị Thanh Thúy (Deputy Head of the Asia–Africa Market); Phạm Viết Hương and Nguyễn Gia Liêm (both former Deputy Directors of the Overseas Labour Management Department); and Lê Thanh Hà, Head of Vietnam Labour Management in Korea.
In addition, 18 defendants are charged with violations of accounting regulations causing serious consequences, and one defendant is charged with intermediary bribery.
According to the indictment, from 2021 to May 2025, Nguyễn Bá Hoan headed the Overseas Labour Management Department. The indictment alleges that Hoan allowed subordinates led by Tong Hai Nam to hinder enterprises’ visa/permit applications for sending workers abroad. To obtain permits, companies were allegedly required to pay bribes at fixed levels ranging from 100 million to 400 million VND.
The defendants are also accused of mismanaging the evaluation of applications and the approval of responses for foreign labour supply contracts under the overseas work visa regime.
The indictment states that Hoan agreed to have Tong Hai Nam direct an unlawful evaluation process, which allegedly created barriers that compelled enterprises to pay approximately 500 USD per worker to facilitate and secure approval letters.
As a result of the alleged conduct, the defendants are accused of receiving more than 30.2 billion VND in bribes from individuals associated with 31 companies.
Hoan is accused of accepting money to sign 14 permits and of allowing the establishment and execution of unlawful evaluation processes for overseas labour supply under the Visa E7 regime, forcing enterprises to incur additional costs.
For the period 2020–2025, Hoan is alleged to have repeatedly received money totaling over 16.3 billion VND.
Tong Hai Nam is accused of directing subordinates to obstruct enterprises’ applications for new or renewed permits and of devising and executing unlawful evaluation processes, allegedly resulting in forced facilitation payments.
From 2020–2025, Nam is said to have received bribes multiple times totaling over 14.3 billion VND, with personal gains over 7.9 billion VND.
The indictment also alleges that companies controlled by defendant Nghiêm Quốc Hưng (Chairman and CEO of Hoàng Long) created two revenue entries to conceal income. This is said to have hidden over 1,206 billion VND in revenue and caused over 241 billion VND in tax losses during 2020–2025.
Current actions show repayment of more than 251 billion VND by the defendants and related parties.
The Supreme People’s Procuracy said there are gaps in the legal framework governing licensing for outbound labour services, which it said fail to ensure uniform, robust procedures. It noted that these gaps may enable abuse by officials and create difficulties for business activities.
The Procuracy said state management of outbound labour and tax reporting for enterprises needs to be strengthened.
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