COURTS & CRIME-CORRUPTIONS | VIETNAM: Soft drink boss Tran Qui Thanh jailed and Most Senior Leader of National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue has resigned amid graft purge.
.Vietnamese soft drink boss Tran Qui Thanh is led into a court in Ho Chi Minh City. PHOTO: AFP
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Vietnam National Assembly head resigns amid graft purge
Memento Maxima Digital MarketingNA Chairman Huệ to be relieved from all duties
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| National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ. —VNA/VNS Photo |
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HÀ NỘI — National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ will be relieved from his duties as the leader of the 15th-tenure National Assembly for the term 2021-26, and as a member of the Politburo and the 13th-tenure Party Central Committee.
The decision was approved at a meeting of the Party Central Committee on Friday.
The conclusion of the meeting reads that Huệ was a key member of the Party and the State who received formal training and matured from the grassroots level to hold important roles in the Party and the Government.
However, according to reports from the Central Inspection Committee and relevant departments, he has violated regulations as a Party member and his responsibilities as a leader, particularly as a Politburo member, a member of the Party secretariat and the Party Central Committee, and is held accountable for his actions.
Huệ’s wrongdoings have led to negative public opinions and affected the reputation of the Party, the State and himself, the meeting statement reads.
Aware of his responsibilities towards the Party, the State and the people, Huệ has submitted a resignation letter to be relieved from duties, which has been approved by the Party Central Committee.
Lê Viết Chữ, former member of the 12th-tenure Party Central Committee and former Party Secretary of Quảng Ngãi Province, was also issued a disciplinary decision.
According to reports, he demonstrated a significant decline in political ideology and morality, committing severe violations to Party regulations and State laws in executing his duties and tasks.
He also violated Party regulations in his position as a local leader, being involved in misconduct and bribery causing serious consequences and resentment among the public, affecting the reputation of the local Party committee and authorities, says the statement.
Based on the nature, extent and consequences of his violations and regulations of the Party, Chữ is expelled from the Party. — VNS
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Vietnam court jails soft drinks tycoon in USD40 million scam case
HO CHI MINH CITY (AFP) – Vietnam’s top soft drinks tycoon was jailed for eight years yesterday in a USD40 million fraud case, the latest high-profile business figure snared in the country’s sweeping crackdown on corruption.
The communist nation’s wide-ranging campaign to wipe out endemic graft has seen more than 4,400 people charged with criminal offences, including officials and senior business figures.
A court in Ho Chi Minh City found Tran Qui Thanh and his two daughters guilty of scamming investors over loans issued in 2019 and 2020.
Thanh, the 71-year-old chairman of beverage group Tan Hiep Phat, was ruled to have masterminded scams to appropriate assets put up as collateral against loans, state media reported.
Even when the borrowers paid back the money with interest, Thanh would refuse to give back the assets on various pretexts, including claiming they had forfeited their repurchase rights due to contract breaches.
The court sentenced Thanh’s 43-year-old daughter Tran Uyen Phuong, the company’s deputy chief executive officer, to four years in jail.
Younger daughter Tran Ngoc Bich, 40, was given a suspended three-year jail sentence.
Tan Hiep Phat is one of Vietnam’s biggest beverage companies, known for its range of bottled tea and energy drinks.
In his final words before the court, Thanh said he regretted what happened and was ready to take responsibility. “I would like to be given leniency, handing me the chance to come back to society soon for my continued work and devotion,” Thanh was quoted as saying.
Judge Huynh Van Truc, who read the verdict in court yesterday, said the defendants’ crimes had “caused danger to society”.
“The defendants were well aware that their behaviour would be punished by law but they had deliberately committed the crime,” the judge said.
