HO CHI MINH: Vietnamese police have apprehended a customs officer in Ho Chi Minh City on suspicion of taking bribes and found several envelopes containing cash worth a total of about VND1 billion (US$44,520) at his house.
Nguyen Tuong Duy, 48, who is an anti-smuggling officer at the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department, has been detained for abusing positions and powers while on duty, Hoang Viet Cuong, deputy head of the General Department of Vietnam Customs, said on Saturday.
Officers from the Ministry of Public Security escorted Duy to the police station after he had just arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in the southern city on December 30, following his trip to China.
After an urgent arrest and a search warrant was then issued, police confiscated several envelopes that contained a total amount of nearly VND1 billion at the suspect’s residence.
An initial investigation showed that Duy took advantage of his authority in goods management and smuggling prevention to ask for extra money from businesses that wanted their clearance procedures to run smoothly, with tens of millions of dong (VND10 million = $445.2) demanded for each shipment.
Duy previously worked for the customs office in the southern province of An Giang and was dismissed, along with several other officials, for his violations in 1991, an official at the An Giang Customs Department affirmed.
The suspect and three of his brothers, who also worked for the An Giang customs office, then continued performing the same duty in Ho Chi Minh City, the official said.
Duy was first employed by the Customs Office at Tan San Nhat International Airport before being recruited by the anti-smuggling team under the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department.
The Ministry of Public Security is coordinating with the General Department of Vietnam Customs to clarify the alleged wrongdoings of Duy and other individuals responsible, deputy head Cuong said.
In a recent survey carried out by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) to evaluate the level of satisfaction among businesses when working with Vietnamese customs officers, over 50 percent of the participants said that they had to pay additional fees to the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department.
The majority of the businesses said they felt worried when they refused to pay those extra expenses, saying that the compulsory procedures for their imports and exports would be prolonged in that case, Dau Anh Tuan, head of the Legal Department of the VCCI, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.
