Vietnam arrests oil company CEO on corruption charges

By Bennett Murray

HANOI, Vietnam (AA) – The CEO of a subsidiary of Vietnam’s main state-owned oil company has been arrested on corruption charges as part of an ongoing crackdown.

Vu Duc Thuan, along with three cronies at the company, was arrested after $142 million went missing from the PetroVietnam Construction Joint Stock Corporation (PVC), police reported in a statement Friday.

There was no mention, however, of the former chairman thought to be a major player in the alleged embezzlement.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc ordered Aug. 31 an investigation into former PVC chairman Trinh Xuan Thanh, who also served as a provincial Communist Party boss in southern Hau Giang, reported the DTI News website.

Police didn’t comment on Trinh Xuan Thanh’s status. His whereabouts are currently unknown.

Vietnam’s state-owned enterprises control large segments of the economy despite privatization drives from Hanoi.

While critics complain that corruption is commonplace among the state-owned enterprises, authorities occasionally impose harsh sentences on convicted officials.

Two executives of the VinaShin state-run shipbuilding company were sentenced to death in 2013 for involvement in an embezzlement case that caused a $600 million default on foreign loans and a sovereign credit downgrade from Moody’s.