The crime of taking bribes might be sentenced to imprisonment and death in Vietnam

1. Regulations on the crime of "Taking bribes"

The crime of "taking bribes" is specified in Chapter XXIII of the Criminal Code 2015 of Vietnam, specifically in Article 354:

Taking a bribe is the act of a person who abuses his/her power to directly or through an intermediary receive or promise to receive any of the following benefits for himself/herself or for another person or organization as a condition to act or not to act in the interests of or at the request of the bribe giver.

The penalty frame for this crime is as follows:

- Imprisonment from 02 years to 07 years:

+ Money, property or other tangible benefit assessed at from VND 2,000,000 to under VND 100,000,000 or under VND 2,000,000 but the bribe recipient has incurred a disciplinary penalty for the same offence or has an unspent conviction for any of the offences specified in Section 1 of this Chapte;

+ Intangible benefits.

- Imprisonment from 07 to 15 years:

+ The offence is committed by an organized group;

+ The offender abuses his/her position or power to commit the offence;

+ The bribe is money, property or other tangible benefits assessed at from VND 100,000,000 to under VND 500,000,000;

+ The property damage caused by the offence is assessed at from VND 1,000,000,000 to under VND 3,000,000,000;

+ The offence has been committed more than once;

+ The offender knows that the bribe is state property;

+ The offender solicits bribes or employ a deceitful method to take bribes

- Imprisonment from 15 years to 20 years:

+ The bribe is money, property or other tangible benefits assessed at from VND 500,000,000 to under VND 1,000,000,000;

+ The property damage caused by the offence is assessed at from VND 3,000,000,000 to under VND 5,000,000,000.

- 20 years' imprisonment, life imprisonment or death:

+ The bribe is money, property or other tangible benefits assessed at ≥ VND 1,000,000,000;

+ The property damage caused by the offence is assessed at ≥ VND 5,000,000,000.

Thus, those who abuse their positions and powers to receive bribes, depending on the nature and severity of their acts, may be sentenced to between 2 and 20 years in prison, life imprisonment or even death. In addition, the offender might also be prohibited from holding certain positions or doing certain jobs for 01 - 05 years, liable to a fine of from VND 30,000,000 to VND 100,000,000 or have part or all of his/her property confiscated.

However, at point c, clause 2, Article 40 of the Criminal Code,  the person sentenced to death for taking bribes, after being sentenced, has returned at least three quarters of the property embezzled or bribes taken, closely cooperates with the authorities in the process of investigation or trial or has made reparation in an effort to atone for the crime.

2. Judgments on the crime of "Taking bribes"

Judgment No. 02/2021/HS-ST on the crime of "Taking bribes"

Chung Quoc T is the direct supervisor of the construction of KG Construction Consulting Joint Stock Company. During the supervision process, Chung Quoc T found that the construction unit did not comply with the design estimate. Therefore, Chung Quoc T told Ta Thanh H that the unconstructed contents would not be signed to confirm the settlement with the investor. When the work was completed, at the request of Ta Thanh H, Chung Quoc T signed and confirmed in the final settlement file with the investor that there were items: "Soil leveling with 9T compactor, required compaction K = 0.9" although the construction unit did not perform. The content of signing the wrong settlement file with the investor, Chung Quoc T did not report to KG Construction Consulting Joint Stock Company. Chung Quoc T received bribes totaling 100,000,000 VND.

The People's Court of Military Zone 9 decided: Declare defendant Chung Quoc T guilty of "Receiving bribes" and sentence him to 4 years in prison.

Judgment No. 91/2021/HS-ST on the crime of "Taking bribes"

Nguyen Tai F (as a supervisory consultant of the Construction Management Board of M M, K, Hanoi) in the process of taking over surveying of contractors who are constructing M M, K projects often causes difficulties and delays. This affects the construction progress of the contractors, because the construction phase can only be changed after Nguyen Tai F has taken over the survey, forcing the contractors to ask F for favorable conditions when taking over. F agreed to help facilitate and asked Mr. G, T, Tuan Anh, T and M to meet and give money to Pham Van T specifically (Mr G gave: VND 4,000,000; T gave VND 3,000,000; Tuan He gave 9,000,000 VND; Ton gave 6,000,000 VND and Manh gave 3,000,000 VND) for T to transfer to F.

The People's Court of District K, Hanoi City decided to declare defendants Nguyen Tai F and Pham Van T guilty of "taking bribes". Nguyen Tai F was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison, while Pham Van T was sentenced to 30 (thirty) months in prison.

Judgment No. 322/2020/HS-PT dated May 18, 2020 on the crime of "Taking bribes"

Nguyen The B is Deputy Chief of Police of X Nam Ward, District X, Hanoi City in charge of the Criminal Police Team. Tran Van Tr and Nguyen Minh T are officers of the Criminal Police Team of the X Nam ward, X district, Hanoi city. On July 23, 2014, Tran Van Tr carrying Nguyen Minh T discovered Trieu Tien C carrying Nguyen Ngoc D on the road with suspicious expressions, so he drove the car to follow. At the beginning of Trung Van market in Tr ward, district N, Hanoi city, Tran Van Tr drove a motorbike to overtake, close to Trieu Tien C's car, causing Trieu Tien C, Nguyen Ngoc D and the car to fall. On the street, 05 packs of drugs Nguyen Ngoc D held in his hand fell to the ground. Nguyen Minh T picked up 5 packages of suspected drugs and called the police. Then, take handcuffs to handcuff Nguyen Ngoc D and Trieu Tien C's hands and then take them to the police headquarters of X Nam ward and bring them to Nguyen The B's room. Here, B asked C and D to each give B 30 million, and it would be resolved. Because they did not have enough money, C and D took a motorbike and gave B a total of 9 million. B, Tr and T take that money and divide it into 3 million VND each.

The Hanoi People's Court decided to sanction:

- Defendant Nguyen The B 45 (forty-five) months in prison for the crime of "taking bribes";

- Defendant Nguyen Minh T 42 (forty-two) months in prison for the crime of "taking bribes".

- Defendant Tran Van Tr 42 (forty-two) months in prison for the crime of "taking bribes".

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