Ho Chi Minh City official susspanended for allegedly requesting $15,000 from British firm

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Investment is looking into allegations that one of its officials requested a British firm to pay US$15,000 under the table in return for an investment license, the departmental head said Monday.

Lai Thi Kim Khanh, deputy director of a center in charge of investment support and consulting under the department, has been temporarily suspended from her post and asked to write a self-appraisal, after she was accused of explicitly suggesting such a hefty unofficial fee.

“The self-appraisal will lay the ground for us to clarify and handle this case,” department director Thai Van Re told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

“We will sanction the official if there are grounds to do so.”

On September 28, a Tuoi Tre correspondent and Tran Thanh Thanh, who was authorized by his Taiwanese boss Peng Jung Min to seek a license to develop a project in Vietnam, met Khanh in her office and the official said she would ask an outside source to help clear the paperwork issues.

On October 2, Khanh phoned Thanh to let him know that the source had agreed to help him get the license for a fixed price of $15,000.

The project is planned to be developed by K.S.T. International Holdings Ltd., which is registered in the British Virgin Islands, an overseas territory of the UK.

The planning and investment department had refused to license the project, saying the company is headquartered in a territory that is not a member of the World Trade Organization.

“So Vietnam does not necessarily have to open its market to such a territory,” the department said in a document, which prompted Thanh and Peng to call for help from Tuoi Tre.

The center Khanh works for is tasked with supporting investors in registering and seeking licenses for their business via paid services.

“But Khanh made an error when she set the service fee in U.S. dollars and refused to sign contracts with the customers,” Re told Tuoi Tre, citing a report by center director Do Quang Hung.

Hung said in the document that Khanh also “had some ambiguous statements that led to misunderstanding” when she discussed the affair with Thanh.

The center is allowed to charge its partners for the support service, and the two parties can negotiate fees.

“But quoting the service price in a foreign currency is against the law, and all transactions made at the center must be adequately recorded in contracts and papers,” Re said.

While Khanh did not follow these two rules, Re said these could be “her personal mistakes,” while the center did nothing wrong.

“We will check if she colludes with any outside source to make money from businesses,” he asserted.

No fixed price

While there are officials who provide free consultancy for investors and license seekers at the department, a support center with paid services was still set up because there were “reasons to do so,” Re said.

“There were individuals and organizations that used outside services and were charged unreasonably high fees, so we think the center helps them get work done at a reasonable price,” he elaborated.

Re also rejected allegations that the department would force firms to use paid services and that there were corrupt officials at the center.

“These accusations are all wrong,” he said.

Investors will normally come directly to the department to seek the license, and “we will create conditions, not challenges, for them,” he said.

The department licenses around 1,700 businesses on an annual basis but the center only received 20 contracts, collectively worth VND1.7 billion ($75,893) in the last five years, according to Re.

The director said there is no fixed service fee at the center and that prices are negotiable.

“We only earned VND1.7 billion in five years so [obtaining] service fees is not the main objective of the center,” he claimed.

Re admitted that some officials had previously been denounced for corruption and they have been either dismissed or moved to another position.

“There have been no cases serious enough to face criminal charges,” he added.

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Ho Chi Minh City official susspanended for allegedly requesting $15,000 from British firm

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