Vietnam expected to try massive corruption case in november
HANOI - Vietnam is likely to try more than 100 people in November for
suspected links to the country's most notorious underworld gang,
state-controlled media said Friday.
Lao Dong (Labor) newspaper reported that senior government officials
began a two-day meeting in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday to review
progress in the investigation of the case, which has rocked the ruling
Communist Party. Gang leader Truong Van Cam, better known by the
nickname Nam Cam, was arrested last December on charges of ordering
the slaying of a rival gang member, gambling and fraud. His ties with
police in southern Ho Chi Minh City were so extensive that officers
were brought in from outside the city to make the arrest.
The government, facing public dissatisfaction at widespread official
corruption, has vowed to bring anyone involved with the gang to
justice, regardless of their position.
Defendants include nine police officers, two prosecutors and a
journalist. Many more police officers in Ho Chi Minh City have been
suspended or disciplined for allegedly receiving payoffs to protect
the gang's operations, including gambling dens, karaoke, hotels and
restaurants.
The most senior officials implicated in the case so far are a vice
minister of public security and the general director of Vietnam's
state radio. Both lost their membership in the party's powerful
Central Committee in May and were dismissed from their positions
earlier this month.
Despite saying it will prosecute anyone involved with the gang,
Communist Party officials have ordered the state-controlled media to
limit their coverage of the case, fueling widespread rumors that more
high officials may have been involved.
The Associated Press - August 23, 2002.
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