Pham Nhat Vu, former chairman of Audio Visual Global JSC (AVG) - PHOTO: MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SECURITY

Vo Van Manh, former director of AMAX Valuation and Investment Consultancy Co., Ltd, and Hoang Duy Quang, an employee of AMAX, were also arrested for allegedly violating regulations on the management and use of public investment capital, causing serious consequences.

Vo Van Manh, former director of AMAX Valuation and Investment Consultancy - PHOTO: MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SECURITY

The police also pressed extra charges against Nguyen Bac Son and Truong Minh Tuan, former ministers of Information and Communications, Cao Duy Hai, former general director of State-run MobiFone Telecommunications Corporation, and Le Nam Tra, former chairman of MobiFone, for allegedly receiving bribes, according to a statement issued by the ministry on its website.

Hoang Duy Quang - PHOTO: MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SECURITY

These decisions, which were all approved by the Supreme People's Procuracy, are part of a broader investigation into a deal in which MobiFone had overpaid for a 95% stake in the loss-making AVG. MobiFone spent around VND8.89 trillion (some US$390 million) buying 344.66 million AVG shares in late 2015, which was too high to be true. The deal was aborted in December last year. SGT