Vietnam: Police Charged with Taking Bribes in Car Smuggling Scheme

Both police officials have been suspended.

In the south central providence of Phu Yen, prosecutors say ­Le Van Loi, a commune police chief, and Nguyen Van Cong, a deputy commune police chief in Phu Hoa District, were bribed by Vietnamese American Vo Van Duc and his brother-in-law, Nguyen Van Dong, to smuggle cars into the country for a man known only as Ha. 

Ha allegedly promised Duc US$ 708 per car. Investigators say the police forged documents to take advantage of a tax exemption granted to Viet Kieu—native-born Vietnamese who have been living overseas-- in smuggling the cars. 

Duc paid the police US$ 235 for each vehicle they helped import. The police fraudulently recorded the Americans as permanent residents, qualifying them for the tariff exemption, reports Thanhnien News.

To combat such schemes, Vietnam is now limiting the number of returning Vietnamese to one duty-free car, which must be registered for six months and have accumulated 10,000 kilometers overseas prior to being imported.

The country is also imposing a tariff of up to 80 percent on imported cars, which will be dropped to 50 percent on cars from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.