Vietnam has set the trial dates for seven former energy officials over a VND800 billion ($35 million) loss at state-owned oil giant PetroVietnam (PVN). The 10-day trial for Dinh La Thang, former board chairman of PVN and a once-rising political star, and six of his subordinates at the oil giant would be held from March 19 at the Hanoi People’s Court. Thang, as well as PVN’s former deputy director Nguyen Xuan Son and four former board members are facing 10-20 years in jail for “deliberately violating state regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences.” The remaining suspect, PVN’s former chief accountant Ninh Van Quynh is meanwhile charged with “abusing positions and/or powers to apporpriate property,” for which he faces up to life imprisonment. According to investigators, despite OceanBank’s “small and inefficient” operations back in 2008, Thang plowed ahead with a 20 percent stake purchase without appraising it or reporting the venture to the then prime minister. This led to PetroVietnam holding a VND800 billion stake in the lender, but that was completely written off when the central bank took over it in 2015. Meanwhile the other six suspects are prosecuted for agreeing with Thang’s decision. Quynh has also been accused of abuse of power to appropriate property for receiving VND20 billion from Son in order to influence PVN’s decisions in favor of OceanBank. Son was already sentenced to death for his role in the OceanBank graft case in a different trial last September. At the time, the defense lawyer for… [Read full story]
Vietnam's top prosecutors on Wednesday ratified charges against the once-rising political star Dinh La Thang and six other former oil officials for their roles in the infamous multi-million-dollar graft case at OceanBank. Thang, who served as board chairman of the state-owned oil giant PetroVietnam (PVN) from 2006 until 2011, may receive 10-20 years in jail if found guilty of "deliberately violating state regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences.” The remaining six suspects, including OceanBank's former deputy general director Nguyen Xuan Son, as well as PVN's former deputy general director Ninh Van Quynh, also face similar charges and punishments. Additionally,…... [read more]
Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security opened criminal probes on Wednesday into three member companies of state-owned fuel giant PetroVietnam for their involvement in multi-million-dollar losses at OceanBank. Investigators suspect “collusion” between the bank’s executives and leaders of Vietsovpetro, Binh Son Refinery and PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP) to appropriate money from the bank. The investigation was launched amid the ongoing OceanBank trial in Hanoi, where 51 bankers and businesspeople are in the dock for causing losses of $94 million, one of the biggest bank fraud cases ever brought to court in Vietnam. According to the indictment, the losses were incurred…... [read more]
The Ho Chi Minh City prosecutor's office will prosecute a former district People's Committee chairman and nine others for swindling VND1 8 billion and 3,000 taels of gold (now over US$5 million) from a bank. The decision to prosecute the officials comes after their trial last year was deferred citing the need for more investigation. Nguyen Van Khoe, ex-chairman of Hoc Mon People's Committee, the local government, is accused of instructing his subordinates to fake documents that the local Thanh Phat Company used to obtain loans from the Cho Lon Branch of the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Develop-ment, the…... [read more]
The embattled official implicated in a massive graft trial that is ongoing in Hanoi has been captured in a rare public photo donating money to the victims of a typhoon that left a trail of destruction in central Vietnam last week. Dinh La Thang, vice head of the Central Economic Commission, which advises the Communist Party on economic policies, was pictured flanking the commission’s head Nguyen Van Binh in an article posted on the organization's website on Tuesday. The two men were seen donating money to the victims of Typhoon Doksuri, which has killed eight people and flooded hundreds…... [read more]
Former chairman of PetroVietnam Dinh La Thang offered to take responsibility for his subordinates’ wrongdoings at a historic corruption trial in Hanoi on Tuesday, saying they had been following his orders. Fallen political star Thang is in the dock for mismanagement related to losses of millions of dollars incurred at power projects run by PetroVietnam Construction Corporation (PVC). He said the power projects were part of the group’s development strategy that he had rushed into at the time. He said he had been “too impatient” and had pushed so hard for the work to be completed on time that his…... [read more]
