Government int'l relations official arrested in pandemic flight bribery scandal

Nguyen Thanh Hai, head of the International Relations department under the Government Office. Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Public Security

A top international relations official at the Government Office has been arrested for allegedly receiving bribes in the organization of Covid-19 repatriation flights.

Nguyen Thanh Hai, 51 head of the International Relations Department under the Government Office, was detained to be investigated for "taking bribes," Lieutenant General To An Xo, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security, said Tuesday.

Hai is the 18th person to be put under criminal probe in the eight months that followed an investigation into a bribery scandal in the organization of repatriation flights that brought Vietnamese citizens back to the country during the Covid-19 pandemic. Several officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including former deputy minister To Anh Dung, were among those arrested.

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