Dak Nong sentences whistleblower to 4.5 years

Accordingly, Tran Minh Loi, who owned the Facebook account Diet giac noi xam (Fighting against internal invaders)--focusing on fighting corruption--was sentenced four-and-a-half years for handing out bribes worth VND90 million (US$4,000).

Others involved in the case including Nguyen Xuan An, sentenced one year and nine days imprisonment (released in court for already finishing the sentence), Huynh Kim Cao Tri, sentenced one year imprisonment for bribing VND60 million (nearly US$2,700).

Three defendants—Huynh Thi Cao Thuong, Truong Thi Lan and Nguyen Thi Ty --received nine months suspended for giving bribes of VND60 million.

Lanh Thanh Binh, former police officer in Dak Mil district, was sentenced one-and-a-half years suspended on charges of taking advantage of his influence to seek personal benefits. The court also confiscated VND90 million that the defendants had committed.

A defendant of another case related to Loi, Nguyen Van Phuc, former director of Dai Loc Transaction Office under Dak Lak Branch of the Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development, was sentenced two-and-a-half years for receiving bribes of VND30 million from Loi in 2014. He was also barred from holding office for three years after imprisonment.

On March 22, the Dak Nong People’s Court issued the first-instance trial of the case.

According to indictments, the police of Dak Mil district caught six gamblers red-handed when they were playing the illegal xoc dia (a gambling with coins) on January 15 this year. After that, the relatives of the gamblers contacted Lieutenant Lanh Thanh Binh to ask for ways to free the gamblers from detainment.

After receiving Binh’s assistance, the gamblers’ family members--including Nguyen Xuan An, Huynh Kim Cao Tri, Huynh Cao Thi Thuong, Nguyen Thi Ty and Truong Thi Lan--contacted Tran Minh Loi, who was said to have many experiences in denouncing and reporting corruption in the Central Highlands. Loi guided those people to give money to Binh but insisted on filming the transaction.

An, Lan and Tri gave Binh VND60 million at a café on January 21. All acts of taking and receiving money were recorded as evidence for Loi to accuse Binh of taking bribes.

However, after obtaining the evidence, Loi did not immediately report the case but used the evidence to threaten and force Binh to influence the investigative agency to release the detained gamblers and return money to their families.

When knowing that Loi was holding the evidence, Binh came to Loi to ask for pardon but was refused.

On February 24, Binh reported the receipt of VND60 million to Dak Mil district Police and denounced Loi’s threatening.

Further investigations showed that in April 2014, because of wanting to borrow bank loans with low interest rates, Loi had contacted Nguyen Van Phuc, former Director of the Dai Loc Transaction Office, Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development in Dak Lak, and Nguyen Duc Trong, a bank staffer, to propose to a loan of VND1.8 billion (about US$80,000). In return, Loi promised to offer VND150 million (about US$6,700) if Phuc and Trong created conditions for the loan.