On October 15, according to the Government's Electronic Information Portal, the Ministry of Public Security said that, based on the petition of the Hanoi City Police Department's Investigation Security Agency, the Ministry of Home Affairs sent an official dispatch to ministries, government agencies; People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities, requesting to check and review the records of civil servants and public employees who declared the use of foreign language certificates under the name of the organization Cambridge International (a fake organization).
In case of detecting cadres, civil servants and public employees using certificates in violation of the law, it is recommended that competent authorities consider and handle the matter according to regulations.
The Ministry of Home Affairs also requested that local ministries and branches step up propaganda work, requiring civil servants and public employees under their management to raise vigilance and prevent crime; and not to participate in foreign language certification exams of organizations established illegally.
In June 2024, the Internal Political Security Department and the Investigation Security Department of Hanoi City Police completed the investigation and transferred the case file to prosecute Le Van Vang (born in 1981; residing in My Duc district, Hanoi), Luong Viet Anh (born in 1987; residing in Long Bien district, Hanoi) and his accomplices for the act of "fraudulent appropriation of property" when organizing exams and issuing fake Cambridge International English certificates.
According to the investigation, in 2021, Le Van Vang came up with the name of the organization Cambridge International, with the original purpose of organizing English training courses, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it could not be implemented.
Then, understanding the needs of many people with limited English proficiency but needing a certificate to ensure the completion of their application for admission to agencies and units inside and outside the State, Vang proposed to cooperate with the Institute for Educational Development Cooperation Research under the Vietnam Association of Psychological and Educational Sciences, with Luong Viet Anh as Director of the Institute, to organize foreign language certification exams under the name of Cambridge International.
The subjects advertised this as a prestigious organization in the world for training and granting international foreign language certificates, to attract people who need certificates, register and thereby appropriate money.
Hanoi City Police Investigation Agency seized 2 seals named Cambridge International, including 1 embossed seal and 1 regular ink seal, and many documents (phones, computers) related to Cambridge International examination and certification activities.
Through investigation, the subjects confessed that they had organized exams for candidates every Saturday and Sunday and had issued about 4,200 English certificates under the name Cambridge International with prices ranging from 2,300,000 VND to 18,000,000 VND/certificate (depending on the type).
