Vietnam jails former deputy police ministers in graft crackdown
Thursday, January 31, 2019, 10:22 GMT+7
A Vietnamese court jailed two former deputy police ministers on Wednesday amid a widening crackdown on corruption in the Southeast Asian country, state media reported.
The People's Court of Hanoi also handed down a 15-year term for business tycoon Phan Van Anh Vu, also known as "Aluminium Vu", convicted of "abusing power" at the same trial.
Bui Van Thanh and Tran Viet Tan, former deputy ministers of the Ministry of Public Security, were found guilty of "lack of responsibility" and jailed for 30 months and 36 months respectively.
Thanh and Tan, the highest-ranking police officials to have been tried in the corruption crackdown, were accused of failing to prevent Vu from illegally taking over state assets, causing combined losses of over VND1.1 trillion (US$47.41 million) to the state budget.
Vu had been sentenced to a combined 25 years in prison at two other separate trials last year for deliberate disclosure of state secrets and abusing power to appropriate property.
Vu, who fled to Singapore, was arrested in Vietnam earlier last year.
The Vietnamese government has launched investigations into hundreds of public officials accused of mismanagement, with several executives at state-owned enterprises, including one former politburo member, being jailed for mismanagement or embezzlement.
