Vietnam probes former top policemen on fugitive spy links

HANOI: Two former senior police officials in Vietnam were placed under investigation on Friday for their alleged role in aiding a spy, the latest development as the communist state’s anti-corruption drive extends to the powerful security sector.

The duo were once part of Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, one of the state’s most protected institutions which oversees the country’s vast police force, and cybersecurity and intelligence units.

But it is now the target of a crackdown that has mostly engulfed the oil and banking sectors, as analysts say the conservative leadership aims to stamp out corruption and sideline political foes.

An announcement issued by the ministry on Friday said two former MPS deputy ministers — Bui Van Thanh and Tran Viet Tan — were “put under investigation and not allowed to leave their residences”.

The order was linked to Phan Van Anh Vu, an intelligence officer whose high-profile arrest at a Singapore border crossing last December gave a hint at fissures within Vietnam’s highly secretive Communist party and state apparatus.

Vu, an ex-property developer who authorities say was sought for leaking state secrets, was extradited and is now serving eight years in jail. The details of his crimes have never been made public because of national security reasons, officials say.

Thanh, one of the two officers under investigation, was sacked from his deputy minister position in August after the state accused him of aiding Vu to travel overseas.

He had also allegedly illegally signed documents approving the sale of state properties.