Authorities have promised to reward whistleblowers with up to US$160,000 but there remain obstacles obstructing the fight against corruption in Vietnam, an official has said.

>> An audio version of the story is available here

>> Vietnam to reward corruption whistleblowers with up to $160k

Cu Tat Dung, a member of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Internal Affairs, made the statement in a story published in Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Tuesday. One of the responsibilities of the commission is combating corruption. Regarding the whopping reward, Dung was referring to Joint Circular 01, to take effect on May 1, issued by the Government Inspectorate and the Ministry of Home Affairs, detailing rules on rewarding people who make outstanding achievements in anti-corruption. Under the new regulation, people who denounce corruption and help the government of Vietnam recover from a corruption case an amount over 600 times the common minimum wage will get a reward of up to 3,000 times the common minimum salary applied at the time of denunciation. The current common minimum salary is VND1.15 million (US$54.3) a month so the highest reward in cash amounts to VND3.45 billion, or nearly $160,000.

Although such a high bonus will play a role in encouraging everybody to report corruption, there remain a lot of obstacles for corruption fighters to overcome, Dung said.

When anybody informs authorities of a corrupt act, they enter an unequal fight as they are facing a rival who is in a position of power and has a lot of money and connections, the official said.

Meanwhile, officials assigned to handle accusations are also under much pressure, including the subjective direction of their superiors or intervention by people in positions of power, who want such allegations to be “internally” dealt with. So these officials may refuse to verify the information provided by the denunciators and to respond to their queries and complaints, Dung said, adding that they may also transmit the letters of accusation to the wrong state agencies with a view to letting the case gradually fall into oblivion.

Under worse circumstances, the officials may try to find unclear points in letters of denunciation to reject the accusation, impose such offences as slander on the denunciators, or treat them as extremists who make trouble for others and ruin internal solidarity, the official said.   When such cases happen, they will deter corruption whistleblowers and undermine the people’s trust in law enforcement agencies, Dung said, adding that this is the biggest obstacle to the fight against corruption.

Bringing a corrupt official to the light of law is a long process, as it may require coordination between different agencies and the application of various laws and regulations, especially when many people are involved and corrupt acts are found in finance, banking, investment, construction, and land, Dung said. Those agencies that cope with corruption allegations may have to spend a lot of time on the process of investigation, prosecution, and trial so it may take several years for a case to be completely handled, he said.

Whistleblowers may be at risk when the investigation of a corruption case is prolonged, as it is hard to keep their identity secret, Dung admitted.

Many denunciators have been subject to revenge, and even life threats, by the accused in the past years, he said.

Dung also cited a report from the Government Inspectorate as saying only 22.3 percent of the total amount of money lost in corruption cases was recovered in 2014.

“Will denunciators receive rewards immediately after a court hands down a sentence on the defendants or have to wait until the entire loss is recovered?” Dung asked.     There has yet to be a regulation on this issue, he said.

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