NEW DELHI — Indian federal police arrested the son of former finance minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday, but the agency which has been investigating suspected criminal misconduct related to approvals of investment deals, did not reveal the charges. Karti Chidambaram was detained at the airport in the southern city of Chennai and will be appear in court later in the day, Abhishek Dayal, spokesman of the Central Bureau of Investigation said. “The reasons for the arrest will be provided in the court.” P. Chidambaram, 72, served twice as finance minister in the Congress-led coalition that ran India for a decade, from 2004-08 and then from 2012 until the party’s election defeat at the hands of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in May 2014. He has been a vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and current Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted that the Modi government was continuing its “vendetta” against Chidambaram, and called the arrest a diversionary tactic to hide “scams and colossal corruption”. In May, police raided the homes of Chidambaram and his son as part of the probe into approvals of foreign investment proposals.
The Ministry of Public Security spokesman said investigators had found no evidence to support a former official's claim that a senior ministry official tipped him off to his arrest in a multimillion dollar graft case. Lieutenant-general Hoang Kong Tu, chief of the ministry's security investigation department, was speaking in an interview on the ministry's website on Wednesday. During a hearing in Hanoi on Tuesday, Duong Chi Dung, former chairman of the state-owned shipping giant Vinalines, said that Deputy Minister Pham Quy Ngo informed him of his imminent arrest in May 2012. The tipoff allowed him to flee Vietnam for four…... [read more]
The intermediary suspected of helping a Hanoi-based garment company bribe the son of the Vietnamese Deputy Trade Minister in order to obtain export quotas to the U.S. was arrested Oct. 1 in Hanoi. Dang Vu Quang, 32, director of a limited company in Hanoi was accused of allegedly facilitating bribery, according to preliminary police reports. Through Quang, the official in the trade ministry's Import-Export Department Mai Thanh Hai, 32, had taken a bribe of 32,000 USD (510 million VND) in mid-2003 from Qualitex Joint-Venture Company to help it secure garment export quotas. Hai is also the son of Deputy Trade…... [read more]
Even though Vietnam\'s public debt is expected to equal 58% of the GDP by next year, Vuong Dinh Hue, Finance Minister said, "this is nothing to worry about." Finance Minister Vuong Dinh Hue (Photo by Vneconomy) At a National Assembly (NA)’s socio-economic discussion on October 28, a number of NA deputies raised concerns about Vietnam’s rising public debt, which is forecast to make up 54.6% of the country’s GDP by the end of this year, and, if it continues to increase at the same pace, will reach 58% by the end of 2012.Deputy Tran Du Lich from Ho Chi Minh…... [read more]
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 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…... [read more]
