The Supreme People's Procuracy has completed its indictment of 22 defendants, charging them with bribery, abuse of power while performing official duties, and offering bribes in connection with serious violations at the National Center for Judicial Records (NCJR).

Among those indicted are Hoang Quoc Hung (former Director of NCJR), Luong Nhan Hoa (former Deputy Director), and Nguyen Dinh Canh (former Deputy Head of the Administration and General Affairs Division), all charged with accepting bribes.

From January 2019 to July 2023, Hoang Quoc Hung allegedly exploited his position and authority to collude with his former driver, Pham Quang Hau, accepting more than 43 billion VND (approx. USD 1.7 million) in bribes to process 55,713 judicial record requests unlawfully.

Hung is accused of personally pocketing more than 38 billion VND (approx. USD 1.5 million), while Hau received over 4.1 billion VND (approx. USD 161,000).

From January 2019 to April 2023, Luong Nhan Hoa is said to have taken over 8.2 billion VND (approx. USD 323,000) in bribes to process 10,946 judicial record applications illegally.

He allegedly passed over 7.6 billion VND (approx. USD 299,000) to Hau for forwarding to Hung, while retaining more than 547 million VND (approx. USD 21,500) for himself.

Nguyen Dinh Canh reportedly accepted more than 3.5 billion VND (approx. USD 138,000) to handle 4,678 unlawful applications. He then passed over 3.2 billion VND (approx. USD 126,000) to Hau, keeping over 233 million VND (approx. USD 9,000) for himself.

Other individuals involved include Nguyen Quoc Huy, Director of Phu Tam Legal Consulting Co., Ltd., who allegedly gave Hau over 2.7 billion VND (approx. USD 106,000) to facilitate the illegal processing of 3,200 applications. Huy reportedly profited by 160 million VND (approx. USD 6,300).

From January 2019 to July 2023, Nguyen Xuan Tho, a representative of Vicco Law Firm's transaction office, allegedly offered over 23 billion VND (approx. USD 906,000) in bribes to have 28,728 applications processed. Tho reportedly gained more than 2.6 billion VND (approx. USD 102,000) in return.

Nguyen Thi Trang is accused of bribing officials with over 2.7 billion VND (approx. USD 106,000) to process 3,430 applications illegally, making a personal profit of 171 million VND (approx. USD 6,700).

Some defendants were notaries accused of abusing their authority to falsify or rubber-stamp documents. These included the notary offices of Truong Thi Nga and Lai Khanh, which allegedly stamped and certified over 34,503 fake documents used by Nguyen Xuan Tho to support applications.

The cost per falsified document was 5,000 VND (approx. USD 0.20). Nga received over 172 million VND (approx. USD 6,800), of which she kept 162 million VND (approx. USD 6,300), while Khanh received 10 million VND (approx. USD 390).

Between January 2019 and March 2023, notary Vu Nam and office staffer Luong Minh Son were also accused of abusing their roles for profit.

Together, they falsified and stamped over 7,280 documents at Nguyen Lam Notary Office, charging 5,000 VND per document. They received over 36 million VND (approx. USD 1,400), split evenly between them.

T. Nhung