HCMC – The People’s Court of Hanoi this morning, November 6, sentenced Nguyen Duy Linh, former deputy director of the General Department of Intelligence under the Ministry of Public Security, to 14 years in prison for taking bribes.
Linh was absent at the court for health reasons, the Vietnam News Agency reported. He was found guilty of receiving VND5 billion (US$220,000) from Phan Van Anh Vu (also known as Vu Nhom), former chairman of the Bac Nam 79 Construction Joint Stock Company.
According to the indictment, in mid-2017, Vu was under investigation for violations in a case of intentionally leaking State secrets and other illegal acts related to the purchase, sale and transfer of public houses and land in the central city of Danang and some other parts of the nation.
Vu tried to contact Linh through Ho Huu Hoa to get help and information related to the case. Although Linh knew that Vu was under investigation, he received VND5 billion from Vu to help and leak information to Vu.
Vu later fled to Singapore after being informed by Linh that he could be detained and prosecuted.
Vu was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison for giving Linh the bribes, in accordance with Clause 364, Article 4 of the 2015 Penal Code, taking his total punishment to 30 years behind bars. Meanwhile, Hoa received a prison term of 2 years, 7 months and 25 days.
Besides receiving a jail term of 14 years in accordance with Clause 354, Article 4 of the 2015 Penal Code, Linh was ordered to give back VND5 billion to the State.
