A leader of PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP) has been arrested for abuse of power in a headline-grabbing economic mismanagement case at Hanoi-based Ocean Commercial Bank (OceanBank).

Vu Thi Ngoc Lan, deputy general director of PVEP, is the latest senior oil and gas executive to be arrested for involvement in the OceanBank case – PHOTO: VNECONOMY

PVEP said in a statement released on its website today that the Investigative Police Agency at the Ministry of Public Security on Monday brought charges against Vu Thi Ngoc Lan, 46, deputy general director of PVEP, based on the 2015 Penal Code.

Investigators charged that between 2012 and 2014, Lan had abused her senior position to receive interest payments from OceanBank and to misappropriate assets.

She has served as a deputy director since January 2009 and has made multiple contributions in her fields of expertise, according to PVEP.

PVEP added that her arrest amounted to a loss for the corporation in terms of personnel. It has promptly assigned a staff member as a caretaker to perform her duties.

The corporation is also working with its holding firm – Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) – to carry out necessary procedures in line with prevailing regulations.

PVEP stated that in cooperation with OceanBank, other banks and credit institutions, the corporation strictly abides by regulatory provisions and the relevant regulations of PVN and of the corporation, as well as pays special attention to economic efficiency and capital maintenance.

The corporation noted that there is no policy that allows any members of its staff to receive interest payments as kickback through deposit contracts at banks.

The latest arrest is part of a probe in the second phase of the multi-million-dollar graft case at OceanBank, with scores of officials having either been arrested or sentenced for their involvement.

Some three weeks ago, the former general director of PVEP, Do Van Khanh, 58, was remanded into police custody for abusing his power to appropriate property. He was accused of receiving interest paid by OceanBank that went beyond the regulated rates from 2012 to 2014.

Khanh served his post from February 2012 to November 2015, according to PVEP.

During the trial in phase one in 2017, former OceanBank chairman Ha Van Tham, 46 and his accomplices claimed that the bank had spent VND76.5 billion paying interest sums for PVEP beyond regulations.

Between 2011 and 2014, Tham and other bank officials offered many customers deposit interest rates higher than the ceilings set by the State Bank of Vietnam, including PVN, causing losses of roughly VND1.6 trillion.

Tham was sentenced to life imprisonment on four counts: intentional violation of rules, infringement of lending regulations, abuse of power and appropriation of assets.

Founded in 1993, OceanBank has a 20% stake from the Ocean Group, which also invests in hospitality, securities, the media and retail. It was taken over by the central bank in April 2015 after the high-profile scandal broke out.