Former Ben Tre province Party chief receives bribes worth $1 mln in Xuyen Viet Oil Company case

Le Duc Tho, former chairman of state-controlled Vietinbank and former Party chief of Ben Tre province, has been accused of accepting bribes including $1 million in cash, a Patek Philippe watch, and a Mercedes Benz S450 in the Xuyen Viet Oil Company case.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security’s investigative agency on Tuesday released conclusions on the case of violating regulations on management and use of State assets causing loss and waste; giving bribes; accepting bribes; abusing positions and power to influence others for personal gains that occurred at Xuyen Viet Oil Company and a number of agencies.

Investigation results show that in 2018, Tho as board chairman and general director of Vietinbank had the authority to approve loans and lending limits for businesses. He became Party chief of Ben Tre province in 2021.

From 2019 to 2021, Tho abused his positions and power to accept bribes and influence others for personal gains.

Specifically, in the case of Xuyen Viet Oil acquiring credit at Vietinbank, from 2019 to January 2020, Tho accepted bribes many times from Mai Thi Hong Hanh, chairwoman and director of this company.

The bribes included over $1 million, a golf set worth VND1.1 billion ($44,200), a Patek Philippe watch worth $421,000, and a Mercedes Benz S450 car worth VND6.67 billion ($268,200).

Tho has been accused of abusing his positions and power as Party chief of Ben Tre province and former top leader of Vietinbank to influence the director of this bank’s Ben Tre branch to give loans to Xuyen Viet Oil.

The loans mounted to VND400 billion ($16.1 million), with preferential interest rates and unsecured loan ratio of up to 40%.

The investigative agency also proposed to prosecute 14 other people, including Mai Thi Hong Hanh for breaching regulations on management and use of State assets, causing loss and waste and giving bribes; and Nguyen Thi Nhu Phuong, deputy director of Xuyen Viet Oil for violating regulations on management and use of State assets, causing loss and waste.

Seven people proposed to be prosecuted for receiving bribes include Do Thang Hai, former Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade; Tran Duy Dong, former director of the trade ministry’s domestic market department; Hoang Anh Tuan and Nguyen Loc An, former deputy directors of the department; Le Duy Minh, former director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance and former director of the HCMC Tax Department; Dang Cong Khoi, former deputy director of the finance ministry’s price management department; and Phan Kien Anh, former director of a distribution branch under Nghi Son Oil Refinery.

Five people proposed to be prosecuted for giving bribes include Nguyen Van Thang, former deputy director of Xuyen Viet Oil Company’s Hanoi branch; Vu Trung Thanh, former director of Vietinbank’s Thanh Xuan district branch; Dinh Tien Dung, Xuyen Viet Oil’s chief accountant; Nguyen Tan Long, head of sales at the company; and Dong Xuan Dung, a freelance worker.

The investigators determined that Hanh and Phuong of Xuyen Viet Oil, which was assigned by the State to manage and use the Petroleum Price Stabilization Fund, caused a loss of VND219 billion ($8.81 million) to the state budget.

Xuyen Viet Oil was assigned by the law to collect environmental protection tax from gasoline business activities, but Hanh as its top leader did not transfer the money to the state budget. She used it for personal purposes, causing a loss of VND1,244 billion ($50 million) to the state.