What are the penalties for using money worth less than VND 2,000,000 to square or bribe members of the state audit delegations in Vietnam?
In what cases is the State audit delegation established?
Pursuant to the provisions of Article 36 of the 2015 Law on State Audit Office of Vietnam as follows:
Establishment and dissolution of audit delegation
1. An audit delegation shall be established to perform audit tasks of the State Audit Office of Vietnam. State Auditor General shall decide establishment of the audit delegation at the request of the chief auditor of a specialized state audit unit or local state audit unit. An audit delegation may be divided into smaller auditor teams depending on the scale of the audit.
2. An audit delegation shall be automatically dissolved after all audit tasks are completed and is responsible for the assessment, confirmation, and opinions written in the audit report.
According to the above provisions, the State Auditor General shall decide establishment of the audit delegation at the request of the chief auditor of a specialized state audit unit or local state audit unit.
What are the penalties for using money worth less than VND 2,000,000 to square or bribe members of the state audit delegations in Vietnam? (Image from the internet)
Penalties for using money worth less than VND 2,000,000 to square or bribe members of the state audit delegations in Vietnam?
Pursuant to Article 12 of Ordinance No. 04/2023/UBTVQH15 stipulating the administrative penalty for acts of squaring or bribing members of the state audit delegations as follows:
Squaring or bribing heads, deputy heads or members of audit delegations, leaders of audit teams; obstructing performance of duties by State Audit Office of Vietnam
A fine ranging from VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following violations:
1. Using money, property, and other financial benefits worth less than VND 2,000,000 to square or bribe the head, deputy head and/or member(s) of an audit delegations or leader of an audit team;
2. Obstructing the performance of duties by the State Audit Office of Vietnam and state auditors.
According to the above provisions, individuals who use money, property, and other financial benefits worth less than VND 2,000,000 to square or bribe the head, deputy head and/or member(s) of an audit delegations or leader of an audit team will be administratively penalized from VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000.
At the same time, according to Clause 2, Article 7 of Ordinance No. 04/2023/UBTVQH15 stipulating as follows:
Fines and power to impose fines
...
2. The fines prescribed in Chapter II herein are imposed for administrative violations committed by individuals. The fine imposed upon an organization is twice as much as that imposed upon an individual for committing the same administrative violation.
According to the above regulations, for organizations that have the same act of squaring or bribing members of the state audit delegations, the fine will be twice as much as that imposed upon individuals, that is, a fine of from VND 20,000,000 to VND 40,000,000 will be imposed.
Is the act of squaring or bribing a member of the state audit delegations criminally prosecuted?
Pursuant to Article 364 of the 2015 Criminal Code of Vietnam stipulating as follows:
Giving bribes
1. Any person who directly or through an intermediary gives or promises to give any of the following benefits to an office holder or another person or organization in order to influence him/her to perform or not to perform certain tasks in the interests of or at the request of the bribe giver shall be liable to a fine of from VND 20,000,000 to VND 200,000,000 or face a penalty of up to 03 years' community sentence or 06 - 36 months' imprisonment:
a) Money, property or other tangible benefits assessed at from VND 2,000,000 to under VND 100,000,000;
b) Intangible benefits.
2. This offence committed in any of the following circumstances carries a penalty of 02 - 07 years' imprisonment:
a) The offence is committed by an organized group;
b) The offence involves deceitful methods;
c) The bribe is state property;
d) The offender abuses his/her position or power to commit the offence;
dd) The offence has been committed more than once;
e) The bribe is money, property or other tangible benefits assessed at from VND 100,000,000 to under VND 500,000,000.
3. If the bribe is money, property or other tangible benefits assessed at from VND 500,000,000 to under VND 1,000,000,000, the offender shall face a penalty of 07 - 12 years' imprisonment.
4. If the bribe is money, property or other tangible benefits assessed at ≥ VND 1,000,000,000, the offender shall face a penalty of 12 - 20 years' imprisonment.
5. The offender might also be liable to a fine of from VND 10,000,000 to VND 50,000,000.
6. Any person who promises to bribe a foreign official, an official of a public international organization or an office holder in an enterprise or organization other than state organizations shall be dealt with in accordance with this Article.
7. Any person who is forced to give bribes but voluntarily reports the bribery before being discovered shall be acquitted and have the money or property used as bribe returned. Any person who is not forced to give bribes but voluntarily report the bribery before being discovered might be exempt from criminal responsibility and have all or part of the money or property used as bribe returned.
According to the above provisions, acts of squaring or bribing members of the state audit delegations with money, property and other material benefits worth more than VND 2,000,000 may be prosecuted for criminal liability for the crime of giving bribe if there are enough elements to constitute this crime.
Ordinance No. 04/2023/UBTVQH15 takes effect from May 1, 2023.
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