The COVID Repatriation Scandal

Part 1 of the ‘Unraveling Corruption in Vietnam’ series

In a momentous turn of events on August 15, 2023, Vietnam fully reopened its doors to the world, having declared COVID-19 a "manageable disease." But the lingering question that international observers couldn't help but ask was, "What took Vietnam so long?" The answer lies in the complex web of corruption that had engulfed the nation during the chartered flights COVID repatriation case, resulting in extended delays and dire consequences.

In summary, the case is about a US$100Mio extortionate onboarding fees, shared by 8 ministry officials and related, 2000 flights over 2 years to investigate, causing the freeze and incarceration of immigration police, Vietnam airlines, tourism and of course the Ministry of Foreign affairs diplomat employees.

Part 1: Corruption Hindering Repatriation Efforts

Vietnam's triumphant reopening was marred by a corruption scandal of epic proportions, stemming from the COVID repatriation chartered flights. For 15 long months, this case had plagued the nation, culminating in exemplary sentences of over 12 years in jail and even death penalties.

Extortionate Toll Fee Onboarding Vietnamese Covid Repatriation Flights

Vietnam's authorities, under the banner of their "nobody's left behind" campaign during the pandemic, imposed an exorbitant fee of VND 150 million to board Vietnam Airlines' chartered flights. Shockingly, a gang of opportunistic Ministry officials omitted this fee, thus exploiting the vulnerable repatriation process.

A Shocking Twist in the COVID Repatriation Saga

Victims, eager to return to their homeland, found themselves compelled to pay a "coffee money" fee to secure their place on these flights. In this distressing situation, they unwittingly became accomplices in the crime. The court officials handling these cases often harbored biases toward the rogue officials, as they feared that they could face accusations themselves. The corruptors, out of necessity, became instigators of the crime.

A Lengthy Investigation Reveals Collusion Across 8 Ministries

As rogue officials siphoned off huge sums of money, the judges handed down harsh punishments, with jail terms ranging from 12 to 15 years. Those who profited the most faced the harshest penalty: death sentences.

However, the heart of the investigation was to trace the money amassed from 2,000 chartered flights orchestrated by government officials across eight ministries. This repatriation effort, aimed at bringing Vietnamese citizens stranded abroad during uncontrolled COVID-19 outbreaks in the USA and Europe, generated a staggering $50,000 profit per flight, totalling a mind-boggling $100 million.

The Judge's Firm Stance Against Extortion

Now here is the catch for the convicts that are in fact categorized in ‘good’ guys those who were demanded to pay and the ‘bad’ the rogue officials in charge who demanded money to stamp anything related to boarding the planes.

For this case is so prominent, the money so big; for the first time the judges decided to offer à possibility of remission if they refund the ill-earned cash to bail themselves out thus reducing harsh lengthy  jail and death sentence if they repay some of their pocketed money. Then of course the ‘bad’ convicts had plenty of money to bail themselves out, and the ‘good’ convicts had no money pocketed as they paid most to the bad guys. Now the ‘good convicts’ will pay ‘double’ jail time.

In Conclusion: Victims Await Justice

Despite the urgency of reopening the country and the necessity of visa issuance, the government expedited the trial, focusing on the profits from 800 out of 2,000 repatriation flights. The pressing question remains: What happened to the recouped money? Did it reach the plaintiffs, who had already paid a steep toll fee to the state coffers of the "culprit" ministries?

As the nation grapples with this corruption scandal, a larger question looms on the horizon: Is this attempt to recover funds concealing a more profound issue – the government's financial stability on the brink of collapse?