Mental illness appears contagious among corrupt officials

Corrupt state officials are racing to prove that they have mental health issues to avoid severe sentences.

Corrupt state officials are racing to prove that they have mental health issues to avoid severe sentences.

  

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Mental illness is one of the most tragic illnesses. The patients may have long lives ahead but both their bodies and minds are tortured and the pain their loved ones feel is immeasurable. Furthermore, severely-ill patients could pose a risk to themselves or those at large.

But recently, it seems many people aren’t against being diagnosed as mentally ill. Tuoi Tre News published "Why there are so many corrupt officials have mental illnesses?" article while Thanh Nien News had an article titled "Corrupted officials are often... mentally ill." Four years ago, a writer at Dantri/Dtinews also wrote that those who want to earn a Nobel can try selling "mental illness" to corrupt officials.

Those officials were leading a pretty normal life and taking in corrupt money. But when they were caught, all of a sudden, it was discovered that they had mental health issues.

Such blatant cases made Nguyen Van Hien, former head of the Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly question, "Do they really have mental illnesses or a trick? Many of them seem very sound and healthy to us."

Do Van Duong, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said, "It is said that corrupt officials are mostly mentally ill. Everyone is questioning whether they are really ill or not. The officials are mentally ill yet there's nothing out of the ordinary when they talk and discuss work with their family.

In the most recent case, a director was accused of embezzling over VND353bn (USD15.2m) from Vietcombank. Yet after several trials, she was suddenly certified as a mentally-ill patient. In court, she cried, babbling and said she couldn't even remember her address. In the end, the trial was adjourned. It’s quite possible that many would be mentally ill if they could take away VND353bn.

Besides state officials, mental illness has now become contagious among gang members. Recently, Hanoi police discovered a case where 78 mental health records were faked, 41 of which belonged to gangsters.

A gang leader in Hanoi's Hai Ba Trung District was found to have a mental illness after being questioned over an assault case. His medical record was provided by a local mental hospital. An investigation revealed that he bought the record for VND85m (USD3,600).

"Fake goods and fake diplomas badly affect public trust in the government when everything can be seen as fake," said Minister of Public Security To Lam.

Now fake veterans and mentally-ill patients can be added to the list. When mental illness can be turned into a product, it's still unclear what can be faked next.