The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee has stripped Nguyen Bac Son, 65, of his title as the former Minister of Information and Communications for his serious violations in a now-cancelled deal where State-owned mobile carrier MobiFone had illegally acquired a 95% stake in pay TV firm AVG.

Nguyen Bac Son 

Deputy Nguyen Van Tuyet of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province told the local media on the sidelines of the ongoing sitting of the NA that Tran Van Tuy, head of the NA Committee for Deputy Affairs, had delivered a report on the disciplinary action being taken against Son at a meeting of the legislative body this morning.

Son, who served as head of the Ministry of Information and Communications in the 2011-2016 tenure, is now no longer regarded as its former leader.

Multiple irregularities have been uncovered in the acquisition process, initiated by MobiFone, a business under the ministry and the country’s third-largest mobile carrier by subscription. MobiFone had spent roughly VND8.89 trillion (some US$390 million) buying 344.66 million AVG shares in late 2015.

Following a probe into the deal, the Government Inspectorate concluded that AVG started incurring losses after it was acquired by MobiFone. The irregularities and irresponsibility of MobiFone have cost the State some VND7 trillion, including AVG’s liabilities of VND1.13 trillion.

Earlier this month, Son was retroactively stripped of his titles as a member of the 11th Party Central Committee and secretary of the ministry’s Party committee for the 2011-2016 tenure.

The action against Son was taken after the Politburo, the Party’s decision-making body, asked the Party Central Committee in July to initiate strict disciplinary action against him for his violations in the acquisition.

The Politburo held Son mainly responsible for the serious violations and shortcomings of the ministry's Party committee during his tenure.

He failed to respect the Party principles and working regulations and was found to have been directly involved in the process of making decisions on many aspects of the project, against regulations.

Son had signed some acquisition documents that were submitted to the then-prime minister for approval and had even assigned his subordinates to sign a number of relevant documents, which ran counter to regulations as this task was beyond their authority.

SGT