The Hanoi People’s Court on August 18 opened the first-instance trial of former Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA – now part of Ministry of Home Affairs) Nguyen Ba Hoan and 27 other defendants in a case involving “receiving bribes”, “brokering bribes” and “violating accounting regulations, causing serious consequences” at Hoang Long Investment, Construction and Manpower Supply JSC, MoLISA, and related agencies and businesses.
Among the 28 defendants, Hoan, born in 1967; Le Thanh Ha, born in 1978, former head of the Vietnamese workers management board at the Vietnamese Embassy in the Republic of Korea; and seven former personnel of the MoLISA Department of Overseas Labour are charged with receiving bribes under Article 354 of the Penal Code.
Nguyen Lam Son, born in 1982, Director of Thanh Do Law Firm LLC, is charged with brokering bribes under Article 365 of the Penal Code.
Meanwhile, Nghiem Quoc Hung, born in 1970, Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Hoang Long Company, and 12 subordinates are accused of “violating accounting regulations, causing serious consequences” under Article 221 of the Penal Code.
Nghiem Van Dinh, born in 1978, Director of Incoop 3, and four others from Sona Company, including Nguyen Duc Nam (born in 1979, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sona), also face the same accounting charge.All 28 defendants, comprising 13 in custody and 15 released on bail, were present at the hearing. About 50 lawyers attended to protect the rights and legitimate interests of the defendants.
The Supreme People’s Procuracy indictment said that from 2021 through May 2025, Hoan, then Deputy Minister in charge of the Department of Overseas Labour, knew but still let then Director-General Tong Hai Nam direct officials to create difficulties for companies during the appraisal of license applications to send Vietnamese workers abroad.
The defendants allegedly forced companies to pay VND100–400 million (US$3,800–15,300) per license under a set rate.During the approval of responses to registration applications for overseas labour supply contracts, Hoan agreed to let Nam direct an unlawful appraisal process, blocking businesses from independently providing required documents. Companies were allegedly forced to pay about 500 USD per worker to receive favourable treatment and approval.
Through the scheme, Nguyen Ba Hoan, Tong Hai Nam and several department officials allegedly received more than VND30 billion in bribes from individuals tied to 31 companies.
Between 2020 and 2025, the companies of Nghiem Quoc Hung, Nguyen Duc Nam, and Nghiem Van Dinh—all operating in the labour export sector—maintained dual accounting systems and kept over VND1.241 trillion off the books; this practice reduced their corporate income tax liability, resulting in a tax loss to the State of more than VND244 billion.
Hoan signed 14 licenses and agreed to the unlawful appraisal process for E-7 visa labour supply dossiers. He forced companies to make payments and provide gifts on holidays and Lunar New Year, receiving total bribes of more than VND16.3 billion , according to the Supreme People’s Procuracy.
The trial is scheduled to last nine days.
