Xo said that legal proceedings have been launched against Nguyen Hong Ha, born 1964, a former official at the Vietnamese Consulate General in Osaka, Japan, on the charge of "taking bribes" in line with Article 354 of the Penal Code, and Nguyen Le Ngoc Anh, born 1988, a former official of the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia, for "abusing position and power while performing duties" under Article 356 of the Penal Code.

A flight to repatriate Vietnamese citizens (Photo: VNA)

The third one is Hoang Anh Kiem, born in 1978, who is accused of "giving bribes" following Article 365 of the Penal Code. Their private homes were also raided, Xo said.

It is the latest move by the Ministry of Public Security’s Investigation Security Agency as part of the ongoing probe into the case of "giving and taking bribes; abusing position and power while performing duties, and obtaining property by false pretenses" at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Earlier, several officials were also arrested during the investigation of the case, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung; Nguyen Quang Linh, Assistant to Standing Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh; Nguyen Tien Than, an official at the Government Office’s department of international relations for allegedly taking bribes when organising repatriation flights for Vietnamese citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A number of other people from agencies, ministries and localities have also been detained for investigation of the case.

Vietnam organised nearly 800 flights from the beginning of the pandemic, repatriating more than 200,000 Vietnamese citizens from over 60 countries and territories.