The abrupt resignation of Tong Quoc Truong, CEO of Vietnam Lottery Co., Ltd. (Vietlott) is rumoured to be related to the violations at PetroVietnam Finance Corporation (PVFC) that took place during his time in office as CEO at PVFC and are currently under investigation.

Tong Quoc Truong resigned amidst rumours of being connected to the PetroVietnam scandal

According to newswire Dantri, Truong officially left the CEO position of Vietlott on October 1 due to personal reasons, which was accepted by the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

MoF has assigned his deputy Nguyen Thanh Dam to hold the fort until a new CEO can be picked next week.

Truong had been Vietlott's CEO since the company's foundation in August 2012.

Before moving to the lottery firm, Truong was the general director of state-owned oil and gas group PetroVietnam’s subsidiary PVFC between June 2007 and March 2010.

PetroVietnam and its subsidiaries, including PVFC, have been under legal scrutiny for economic mismanagement by former executives that had resulted in enormous financial losses.

In a statement on September 29, the People’s Court of Hanoi sentenced former PetroVietnam chairman Nguyen Xuan Son to death for his misdeeds causing serious economic damage and abuse of power to misappropriate company assets.

Regarding PVFC, in the 2006-2011 period, including the time that Truong was in office, PetroVietnam poured capital into PVFC and permitted it (at the time under Truong’s lead) to conduct illegal investment activities, causing massive losses for the state budget.

VIR