Vietnam searches for fugitive ex-government official

By Bennett Murray

HANOI, Vietnam (AA) – Vietnamese authorities have issued an international wanted notice for a former government official and state-run business tycoon in the midst of a corruption crackdown.

Trinh Xuan Thanh, former chairman of PetroVietnam Construction Corporation (PVC) and ex-deputy chairman of An Giang province, is suspected by authorities of being behind the murky disappearance of $147 million from the construction arm of the state-owned oil and gas company PetroVietnam, local media reported Saturday.

The arrest warrant leveled against Thanh, along with four other PVC executives arrested Thursday, accuse him of “intentionally violating state regulations on economic management that caused severe consequences”, reported the Tuoi Tre newspaper.

The charges concern ill-fated investments, which were allegedly covered up, in the real estate and finance sectors by PVC under Thanh’s watch.

Authorities have not commented on the suspected whereabouts of the former official, who was formally expelled from Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party on Sept. 8.

State-owned enterprises control large segments of the Vietnamese 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 saw a $600 million default on foreign loans and a sovereign credit downgrade from Moody’s.