Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong last week asked competent agencies to promptly bring serious cases to court, especially the case of Trinh Xuan Thanh in January next year, according to Dan Tri news website.

Trinh Xuan Thanh

Thanh, who formerly served as general director of PetroVietnam Construction Corporation (PVC) and then as vice chair of Hau Giang Province, was accused of violating the State’s economic regulations causing serious consequences at PVC and its subsidiaries. Thanh and his accomplices were also involved in a misappropriation case at Petrovietnam Power Land Joint-Stock Company (PVP Land).

Besides, formal charges have been pressed against nine defendants who are former leaders at PVC, Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN), Thai Binh 2 Thermal Power Project Management Board, and Vung Ang-Quang Trach Petroleum Power Project Management Board, all for their wrongdoing and violations causing serious economic losses.

At a meeting of the Central Steering Committee on Corruption Prevention and Control, the Party chief also asked to open the court hearing next February of PVN for irregularities in contributing VND800 billion to OceanBank.

The case of Pham Cong Danh, former chairman of Vietnam Construction Bank (VNCB), was also mentioned at the meeting as another typical one in the banking sector. Competent authorities should continue clarifying credit and financial violations committed by Pham Cong Danh and his accomplices that caused losses of over VND9 trillion.

They were also charged with allegedly violating the State’s economic regulations causing serious consequences at such credit institutions as Sacombank, Tien Phong Bank, and Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV).

In addition, Huynh Thi Huyen Nhu, former head of a transaction office in HCMC of Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank), and her accomplices will be prosecuted and tried again for swindling customers out of nearly VND4 trillion.

At the meeting, Party General Secretary Trong also praised the close coordination of the police, the People’s Supreme Procuracy and the Supreme People’s Court with the Party Central Committee’s Internal Affairs Commission to speed up investigations.

Many serious cases have been investigated, prosecuted and judged such as the case of Nguyen Xuan Son, former general director of Ocean Bank, colluding with Ha Van Tham, former chairman of the bank’s board of directors, leading to losses of more than VND10 trillion and bad debt of more than VND14 trillion at OceanBank. Son was given a death sentence while Tham was sentenced to life behind bars.

SGT