Hanoi’s Police Department, on June 23, announced it had officially launched a criminal investigation into a sweeping case involving multiple charges: illegal possession and use of narcotics, organizing drug use, bribery, accepting bribes, bribery brokering, and abuse of power while performing official duties. The case centers on the Central Psychiatric Forensic Institute, with developments spanning both Hanoi and Thanh Hoa Province.
36 defendants are institute staff and leadership
The investigation was prompted by the mandatory psychiatric treatment of two suspects — Nguyen Thi Mai Anh, 46, residing in Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi, and her husband Le Van Dong, 47, with a criminal history of five previous convictions — at the Central Psychiatric Forensic Institute. During surveillance, police discovered that several individuals undergoing compulsory psychiatric treatment at the institute were frequently leaving the facility to engage in criminal activities.
Authorities also uncovered evidence indicating that Nguyen Thi Mai Anh had facilitated connections between outside individuals and leaders and staff of the institute to falsify psychiatric forensic evaluations. These falsified reports concluded that certain individuals were mentally ill, despite no clinical basis, in order to place them under compulsory treatment and help them evade criminal prosecution.
Based on the gathered evidence, at 11:45 p.m. on June 7, Hanoi police, in coordination with Thanh Hoa provincial police, arrested Nguyen Thi Mai Anh, Le Van Dong, and five other individuals — including both staff and patients of the Central Psychiatric Forensic Institute — while they were organizing and using illegal narcotics on a beach in the Sam Son resort area of Thanh Hoa.
That same night and into the early hours of June 8, investigators summoned 14 doctors and staff from the institute’s Compulsory Treatment Department who were vacationing at the Long Thanh 3 Hotel — the same hotel where the couple was staying — for questioning.
Following interrogations, the Hanoi police conducted urgent searches at multiple residences and workplaces in both Hanoi and Thanh Hoa, targeting individuals involved in organizing illegal drug use.
At the time of the raids, police discovered that 22 individuals who had been issued court orders for compulsory psychiatric treatment were absent from the institute. Preliminary findings suggest that 15 of these had likely manipulated the mental health evaluation process illegally to secure compulsory treatment decisions and avoid criminal liability.
To date, Hanoi police have summoned 90 people for questioning, including 76 individuals who are leaders and staff of the Central Psychiatric Forensic Institute and four patients undergoing compulsory treatment there.
Authorities have officially initiated criminal proceedings and filed charges against 40 individuals, including 36 from the institute’s leadership and staff, as well as two patients — one of whom is Nguyen Thi Mai Anh.
Senior officials allegedly bribed
During a press briefing on June 23, representatives from the Hanoi Police Department revealed that back in 2016, after being charged with fraud, Nguyen Thi Mai Anh had been ordered into compulsory psychiatric treatment. While at the institute, she allegedly colluded with staff and forensic evaluators to gain unauthorized release privileges.
In 2020, she was again subjected to compulsory treatment after being charged with forging and using official seals and documents. In 2023, she and her husband were involved in a public disorder case and again placed under psychiatric treatment.
During these periods, investigators say Mai Anh bribed institute personnel to receive preferential treatment — including private rooms equipped with air conditioning and sound systems to host parties and even use narcotics on the premises. Drug evidence was later recovered from rooms used by both Dong and Mai Anh.
Investigators also noted that the couple frequently left the facility, vacationed freely, and even invited entire hospital departments to accompany them. Mai Anh acted as a broker, offering bribes to senior officials in exchange for falsified mental evaluations for other defendants. In some instances, she received billions of Vietnamese dong and funneled hundreds of millions Vietnamese dong to Tran Van Truong, former Director of the Central Psychiatric Forensic Institute.
The charges allege that, upon receiving the bribes, forensic evaluators — in coordination with Mai Anh — altered medical records by fabricating or misrepresenting psychiatric symptoms to support false diagnoses. These manipulated conclusions allowed suspects to avoid criminal prosecution under the guise of mental illness.
Authorities say Mai Anh made multiple cash transfers to Truong for these purposes, some involving large sums and multiple beneficiaries across the institute's forensic evaluation board.
