SUPREME PEOPLE’S PROCURACY OF VIET NAM:
SKILLS FOR PROSECUTION, SUPERVISING INVESTIGATIONS ANDADJUDICATION OF EMBEZZLEMENT CASES
Nguyen Dang Thang * and Nguyen Duc Bang †I.

FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF PROPERTY EMBEZZLEMENT

A. Definition and Specific Elements of Embezzling Property
1. Definition
Article 353 of the Criminal Code 2015 provides that:
1. Any person who abuses his/her position or power to embezzle property
under his/her management assessed at from VND 2,000,000 to under VND
100,000,000 or under VND 2,000,000 in any of the following cases shall facea penalty of 02 - 07 years' imprisonment:a) The offender was disciplined for the same offence;b) The offender has a previous conviction for any of the offences specified in
Section 1 of this Chapter which has not been expunged.
2. This offence committed in any of the following cases shall carry a penaltyof 07 - 15 years' imprisonment:a) The offence is committed by an organized group;b) The offence involves deceitful or dangerous methods;c) The offence has been committed more than once;d) The property appropriated is assessed at from VND 100,000,000 to under
VND 500,000,000;
đ) The money or property embezzled was meant for poverty reduction,
provision of benefits for wartime contributors, contribution to reserve
funds, provision of emergency aid for people in areas suffering from anatural disaster or epidemic or extremely disadvantaged areas;e) The offence results in property damage of from VND 1,000,000,000 tounder VND 3,000,000,000;g) The offence has a negative impact on life of officials, public employees,
and workers of an agency or organization.
3. This offence committed in any of the following cases shall carry a penalty
of 15 - 20 years' imprisonment:*

Deputy Director, Department of Prosecution and Supervision over Adjudication of Criminal Cases (Dept. 7),
Supreme People’s Procuracy, Viet Nam.
†
Senior Prosecutor, Deputy Chief of Division, Department of Exercising Public Prosecution Power and Supervision
over Investigation of Corruption Cases, Supreme People’s Procuracy, Viet Nam.

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a) The property embezzled is assessed at from VND 500,000,000 to under
VND 1,000,000,000;b) The offence results in property damage of from VND 3,000,000,000 tounder VND 5,000,000,000;c) The offence has a negative impact on social security, order, or safety;d) The offence results in bankruptcy or shutdown of another enterprise ororganization.
4. This offence committed in any of the following cases shall carry a penalty
of 20 years' imprisonment, life imprisonment, or death:a) The property embezzled is assessed at ≥ VND 1,000,000,000;b) The offence results in property damage of ≥ VND 5,000,000,000.
5. The offender might also be prohibited from holding certain positions or
doing certain jobs for 01 - 05 years, liable to a fine of from VND 30,000,000
to VND 100,000,000 or have part or all of his/her property confiscated.
6. Office-holders in enterprises and organizations other than stateorganizations who take bribes shall be dealt with in accordance with this
Article.
2.

Specific Elements of Embezzlement* Object of crime: embezzlement directly infringes upon two social relations which are thelegitimate activities of an agency, organization or enterprise; and ownership relation(rights).
* Objective of crime: Abusing a position and power; and embezzling property from VND
2,000,000 or under VND 2,000,000 but the offender is disciplined for the same offence or
previous conviction for any corruption-related crimes which have not been expunged.
* Subject of crime: There are two conditions: the offender must have power and position
and must be responsible for property management.
* Subjectivity of the crime: the offender commits a crime with a directly intentional
mistake.

B. Matters Must be Proven to Establish the Crime of Property Embezzlement
1. Whether embezzling property happened; when and where it happened; what are its
modalities, cunning and development; and when it was revealed.
2. Who are the offenders; whether accomplices were involved; how did the offender abuse
his/her power, position, official duties and missions for the commission of crime; and thepenal liability capacity of each offender.

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3. Specific circumstances aggravating and extenuating the penal liability of each offender;
the personal character of the offender.
4. The nature and extent of damage to society caused by the act of embezzlement; theagency, enterprise or organization damaged; property value damaged and otherconsequences; and recoverable property.
C. Evidence to Prove Property Embezzlement- All coming and outgoing vouchers, documents, accounts, financial reports, agreements
and contracts, and invoices.
- The statements or testimony of denunciators, of witnesses and persons involved.
- The statements of suspects and persons who committed property embezzlement.
- Material evidence of criminal embezzlement.
- Assessed conclusion and appraised conclusion issued by professional offices.
II. SKILLS FOR EXECUTING PROSECUTION AND SUPERVISINGINVESTIGATIONS
A. Skills for Prosecution and Supervising Compliance with Law on Receiving and Dealing
with Crime Information and Denouncement, and Filing Criminal Charges
Prosecutors and their assistants must be in compliance with principles, procedures, orders
and powers of the People’s Procuracy on receiving and dealing with crime information anddenouncement, and filing criminal charges provided by:-

The Inter-ministerial Circular
VKSNDTC, dated 2 August 2013;06/2013/TTLT-BCA-BQP-BTC-BNN&PTNT--The Direction 06/CT-VKSTC, dated 6 December 2013, of the Prosecutor General of
the Supreme People’s Procuracy;-

Articles 3, 12 and 13 of the Law on Organization of the People’s Procuracy 2014 andArticles 159 and 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2015;-

Provisional regulation on executing prosecution and supervising compliance with law
on receiving and dealing with crime information and denouncement, and request of
criminal institution issued by Decision 169/QĐ-VKSTC, dated 2 May 2018, of theProsecutor General of Supreme People’s Procuracy.

The following concrete steps should also be fully executed:- 138 -

Firstly, requesting the investigation body to collect evidence, documents on operation andorganization and financial management regulations of the relevant enterprise or agency; decisionpaper on granting power and position, official duties and missions of the suspects, offenders andpersons involved in order to determine the scope of power and position, to define violation acts
which have been directed and decided and their damages when financial regulation andeconomic management are violated. In such cases, prosecutors have to request the investigationbody and investigators to request the preparation of professional assessments and appraisals toclarify the damages caused by the crime.
Secondly, for enterprises, it must be clear that legal documents of the enterprise have to becollected, and information establishing the illegal acts of the suspect has to be collected as well.
Furthermore, regulations, financial statutes, decision papers on granting power, position, official
duties and missions must be studied carefully in order to determine mistakes of each suspect
involved, including the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Accountant and Cashier, basedon the provisions of the Accounting Law 2014.
Thirdly, fully supervising the legal foundations of documents and evidence collected byinvestigation body, such as how such documents and evidence have been collected; whether
financial documents have been certified or not; and the process of taking statements andtestimonies must be in compliance with law as well; and whether financial data has beencollected or seized.
Fourthly, if necessary, they should request the investigation body to provide further
documents and evidence in terms of legal foundation and limited time. If documents andevidence fully meet the requirements to charge the accused, then prosecutors have to take chargeof the investigation and prosecution of the crime according to the law.
B. Skills for Executing Prosecution and Supervising Compliance with the Law within theInvestigation Process
1. Legal Foundation
Articles 14 and 15 of the Law on Organization of the People’s Procuracy 2014 and Article
161 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2015 require prosecutors to supervise strict compliance withthe law on arrest and its ratification, especially in urgent circumstances, when issuing detention
orders, legal foundations for institution of criminal proceedings by filing criminal charges. In
addition, prosecutors also have to pay close attention to the regulations of the Direction 15CT/TW when dealing with criminal cases in which an offender holds an important position in agovernmental agency.
2.

Important Matters to Clarify during the Investigation Process to Correctly Prove Property
Embezzlement
Firstly, prosecutors must collect and verify documents and evidence in order to prove
property embezzlement. This includes making inquiries to verify the consequences of the crime.
If necessary, the prosecutor has to request assessment and financial appraisal of the harm causedby the crime.

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Secondly, prosecutors must determine who committed the embezzlement, how theembezzlement was conducted, and whether any accomplices were involved in the offence.
Thirdly, prosecutors must issue instructions to the investigators in order to clarify whatevidence needs to be collected.
3.

Documents and Evidence Collected within the Search Process- Documents and evidence to verify the responsibility of offenders in connection withproperty management, including decisions on assignment and position; regulations on
operation and organization of agencies, organizations and enterprises.
- Vouchers, documents, and account books involving property embezzlement signed by theoffender, which are valuable records for proving necessary facts related to the embezzled
property.
- Documents representing the sharing of embezzled property with accomplices.
- Instruments and means used to execute the embezzlement.
- Type of property embezzled.
- Type of instrument and means for hiding the embezzled property.

C. Preparation and Interrogation of the Offender- Studying principles, policies, regulations, and directives on economic and financial
management and property management.
- Studying the personal character of the suspect, including the offender’s attitude andpsychological state.
- Studying and investigating offenders’ other social relations.
- Studying the criminal case, the evidence and the documents related to criminal acts.
- Setting time and location for interrogation and issuing summonses.
1.

Contents of Interrogation- The position, assignment and responsibility for property management.
- Location, time, means, occurrence and consequences of the act of property embezzlement.
- The role, position, mission and participating level of each offender and other persons
involved; and the relationship between offenders and persons involved.

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- Property sharing, quantity, location of concealed property and the sale of property.
- Other criminal acts of offenders and persons involved.
- Weaknesses and shortcomings in economic management and property preservation at thescene of the crime.
D. Taking Testimony of Witnesses
Preparation activities include:- Studying the criminal case and the personal character of each witness.
- Studying the reactions of agencies, organizations and enterprises to the embezzlement inorder to understand the witness’s testimony and attitude.
- Studying the relationships between offenders and witnesses.
- Setting the location, time, summons method and official taking of testimony.
1.

The Main Contents of Witness Testimony- Embezzled property of each offender and person involved; the consideration andevaluation of witnesses to the embezzlement.
- Other suspicious relationships of offenders.
- The spending, shopping, concealment of property of the offender; and destruction of
documents and evidence by the offender.
- The bribery, domination or threatening of witnesses by offenders and persons involved.
- Vouchers, documents, invoices, property revealed by the witness.
- Weaknesses and shortcomings of personnel management at the embezzling site.

E. Other Procedural Activities such as Confrontation, Identification, Experimental
Investigation, and Appraisal
Prosecutors should study the investigative conclusion and compare documents and evidence
in the case with investigative requests issued in order to address unanswered questions which
require further inquiry (if any). Prosecutors should also take part in, and coordinate with,investigators in the process of making the investigative report by examining and arranging
documents, evidence and orders in the criminal case (if necessary).

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F. Making the Indictment
Together with guidelines on making the indictment provided in the regulation on executing
prosecution, supervising institution of criminal proceedings, investigation and prosecution(issued by Decision 03/QD-VKSTC dated 29 December 2017 of the Prosecutor General of theSupreme People’s Procuracy), prosecutors should pay close attention to the following importantmatters:+ Presenting legal foundations to determine the ownership of enterprises or agencies whereproperty embezzlement has occurred; the position, power and role of offenders andpersons involved in financial management and economic management at such enterprises
and agencies.
+ Summarizing evidence to prove means and artifices of executing the property
embezzlement scheme; considering and presenting documents and evidence to prove thecriminal conduct and the offender’s awareness of the criminal conduct under his or her
his management;+ Analysing and presenting clearly “the streamline of money” through financial
management and economic management in which the offender has executed fraudulent
acts to appropriate State property based on the legal provisions of financial law,accounting law and economic management law;
+ Collecting assessments and professional appraisals, which play significant roles inproving the offender’s appropriation of property, to present at indictment.
III. SKILLS FOR EXECUTING PROSECUTION AND SUPERVISING ADJUDICATION
OF FIRST INSTANCE TRIALS
A. Skills for Studying Embezzlement Cases
Prosecutors should carefully review the following:+ Documents and evidence to determine the state laws and regulations that control actions
on finance and economics of enterprises, agencies and organizations having violations.
+ Documents to determine position and power to make decisions, set direction and manage
economic and financial policies and practices of enterprises, agencies and organizations
having violations.
+ Documents and evidence to prove illegal acts of financial and economic management by
persons holding power and position in order to appropriate State property.
+ Material evidence to prove means and artifices of offenders; describing the occurrence offinancial activities and economic operations which clearly demonstrate the offender’sawareness of the appropriation of State property by means of decision, direction,
examination, assignment, etc.

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+ Summaries of economic and financial contracts of enterprises, agencies and organizations
that are artifices by persons holding power and position to appropriate the embezzled
property; account books and financial data showing illegal acts on financial principles
and economic management to appropriate state money.
+ Assessments and appraisals by legal assessors; reports on determining and verifying
financial and economic operations.
+ The statements of offenders and persons involved in the case.
Prosecutors should also carefully review the draft indictment in order to avoid mistakes,
such as unclear arguments, legal foundations, financial data, provisions and articles, criminal
records, sections and subsections that apply to the case, and other contents determining theplaintiff, seizing and keeping money, exhibits, and accounts for executing judgment, forprosecution and adjudication. Moreover, they should actively cooperate with the chairman of thetrial to exchange information about the case in order to ensure that the prosecution is in fullcompliance with the law and to protect the offender’s rights.
B. Skills for Preparing Interrogation Reports and Arguments at Trial
The following evidence and documents should be carefully prepared:+ Summaries of important documents and evidence to prove that the embezzled property
has been included in the indictment; then it is important to clarify the crime process andto fully interrogate the suspect with the following questions:- Position, role and power of the offender and his or her activities.
- Determination and conclusion on how the enterprise’s property has been appropriated.
- Summarizing and reckoning the number of documents and evidence in the case inorder to classify evidence, including inculpatory and exculpatory evidence, so theprosecutor can easily interrogate the suspect.
Note that in addition to statements and testimony, the prosecutor should use concretematerial evidence to analyse, argue and draw conclusions of criminal activity based on specificcharacteristics of the embezzled property.
+ For embezzlement cases including assessment and appraisal reports, prosecutors should
actively request assessors to explain what legal foundations have been executed todetermine violations, consequences, property appropriated and whether suchconsequences have been caused by a person who holds position, power or mission in
financial or economic management.
1.

Preparing Arguments
In addition to the above suggestions, one of the most difficult and complex situations which
prosecutors must expect is remaining composed during trial because defence lawyers will be- 143 -

trying to protect their clients and prove their innocence, or at least cast doubt on their guilt.
Prosecutors should pay attention to the following matters:
Firstly, analysing documents and evidence to make clear the object and objective of thecrime in connection with the offender’s position, power and mission characteristics, compliancewith financial management and economic management of the offenders at their enterprise,
agency or organization;
Secondly, clearly proving the consequences of the crime, which include the appropriation ofstate property, the relationship between the cause and effect of the illegal acts and the motive toappropriate property at the offender’s direction and by the offender’s decision;
Thirdly, clearly proving that economic and financial operations have been executed with thesubjective awareness of the offenders by intentional acts and fraudulent schemes caused by noncompliance with economic management principles, financial management principles and private
motivation which existed before the offender decided to commit the crime for his or her own
personal gain. This can be done by:- Making reports and suggestions on the level of penalty.
- Making draft arguments: in property embezzlement cases, the focus of the argument isthe use of material evidence presented in the indictment in order to analyse fully thecrime’s motivation, the goal of the appropriation of property through means, artifices andorders executed by the offenders.
- Preparing for possible situations and other circumstance which could happen at trial inorder to provide suitable solutions.
C. Skills for Prosecution and Adjudication at Trial- Supervising criminal procedure based on provisions and regulations of the Criminal
Procedure Code 2015.
- Preparing mentally to present the indictment.
- Preparing to deal with the jury, defence lawyers, offenders and other persons
participating in the trial.
- Interrogation method: questions must be short and clear; they should not be long orcomplicated, and especially leading questions should not be asked. The questions should
be designed to reveal clear explanations of the embezzling acts, artifices andconsequences of the crime.
- Skills for argument at trial: In practice, when dealing with prosecution and adjudicationof embezzlement cases, new information is provided in the process of interrogation andargument at trial. Therefore, prosecutors have to concentrate on taking notes on- 144 -

documents and evidence which have passed cross-exam in order to rectify false or
misleading characterizations and to cite to key evidence later.
If the jury is having difficulty reaching a decision, then the prosecutor should actively
request the jury to suspend the trial for evidential review.
- Skills for presenting arguments: For embezzlement cases, arguments presented must be
highly convincing so that members of the general public can understand the nature of thecriminal conduct. Therefore, based on previous preparation, the prosecutor should focus
on proper ways for proving, arguing and concluding which must be based on evidence,
documents, and assessments.
- Skills for rebuttal and other responses: rebuttal arguments and other responses toquestions posed by an offender or defence counsel must be based on evidence anddocuments of criminal cases, legal regulations, and provisions of law, so prosecutors
should attentively listen to the accused, lawyers and persons participating in the criminal
trial; prosecutors must quickly take note of controversial remarks, such as statements or
opinions, in order to add them to the prosecution’s written responses or rebuttals.
D. Necessary Matters Done after Trial- Examine the trial record.
- Summarize the faults and mistakes or violations (if any)
- Review the judgment.
- Consider filing petitions to correct faults or mistakes, or, if necessary, appeal.
- Arrange and store documents and evidence according to the law.

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