The Central Inspection Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam announced on Saturday the expulsion of two Party members for their serious violations linked to state telecoms firm Mobifone and local lender BIDV.

Le Nam Tra, former chairman of Mobifone, and Tran Bac Ha, former chairman of BIDV, were expelled from the Party, according to the announcement.

Tra and Ha were former secretary of the Party Committee under their respective companies.

Tra, 56, was appointed Mobifone general director from August 12, 2014. As of late December 2014, he was the company’s interim chairman, replacing his predecessor who retired from the role. In April 2015, Tra was officially named chairman of Mobifone.

Ha was expulsed from the Party for his role in a scandalous deal when Mobifone tried to buy a 95 percent stake of AVG, a pay-per-view TV firm.

The deal was subject to a 50-day state inspection on September 6, 2016.

In April 2017, Ngo Van Khanh, deputy head of the state inspectorate, announced that the probe was finished but no conclusions would be announced yet, as the inspectors still need to work many times with relevant individuals to clarify different points and ensure subjectivity for the inspection.

File photo of Tran Bac Ha, former chairman of BIDV. Photo: Tuoi Tre

In the meantime, Tran Bac Ha, who was chairman of state-controlled BIDV from January 2018 until his retirement in September 2016, was responsible for violations and wrongdoings of the standing committee of the lender’s Party Committee in the 2010-15 and 2015-20 tenures, according to the Central Inspection Committee.

As he chaired BIDV during these periods, Ha violated several policies and code of conduct of the bank.

He also breached the lender’s rules and procedures in approving loans, including lending worth a total of VND4.7 trillion ($207.05 million) given to 12 companies related to the high-profile loss case of the erstwhile Vietnam Construction Bank.

In the same announcement, the Central Inspection Committee suggested the secretariat of the Central Party Committee or the Politburo to consider giving disciplinary actions for Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan and his predecessor Nguyen Bac Son.

Mobifone is run by the Ministry of Information and Communications.

Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan (second left), his predecessor Nguyen Bac Son (third left), and Le Nam Tra, former chairman of Mobifone

Three officials named in the Mobifone - AVG case, and two BIDV executives, have also been given warnings or disciplinary actions, according to Saturday’s announcement from the Central Inspection Committee.