The Ministry of Public Security and police in a number of localities have uncovered widespread violations and corruption in granting technical safety and environmental protection certificates for auto vehicles at many vehicle registration centers, according to Chief of the Office of the Ministry Lieutenant General To An Xo.

At the government’s regular press conference in Hanoi on January 3, he said these centers are mostly in Ho Chi Minh City, Long An, Tien Giang, Soc Trang, Dong Thap, Ben Tre, and Phan Rang provinces.

Initial investigations found that the centers illegally issued around 52,300 technical safety and environmental protection certificates in exchange for tens of billions of VND.

Police in Ho Chi Minh City alone inspected 12 vehicle registration centers and prosecuted six cases with 43 defendants for alleged involvement in the giving and taking of bribes and the falsification of documents.

Regarding the Viet A and repatriation flight cases, the Ministry of Public Security is working to complete investigations in January. The number of defendants in these cases may rise, Lieutenant General Xo said.

To date, 102 defendants have been prosecuted in connection with the Covid-19 test kit overcharging scandal at Viet A Technologies JSC, with a total VND1.67 trillion ($72.6 million) confiscated, frozen, or voluntarily returned by defendants.

Meanwhile, 39 other defendants have been prosecuted for their involvement in a bribery case in connection with repatriation flights bringing Vietnamese home from overseas during Covid-19 outbreaks.