Hoang Thi Thuy Lan, chief of Vinh Phuc province's Party Committee, was arrested Friday on charges of accepting bribes in a scandal linked to real estate firm Phuc Son Group.
Chairman of the committee Le Duy Thanh was detained on the same day.
Lan has held the top position in Vinh Phuc since February 2015. She is also chairwoman of the People's Council of the province, an industrial hub in northern Vietnam with multinationals like Toyota, Honda, Piaggio, De Heus, Sojitz, and Haesung.
The Standing National Assembly Committee had already suspended Lan as a parliament member to facilitate criminal investigations.
The arrests of Lan and Thanh are part of an ongoing investigation into “violations of accounting regulations causing serious consequences” at Vinh Phuc-headquartered Phuc Son Group JSC, Thang Long Real Estate and Trading Investment JSC and related units.
The Ministry of Public Security's investigative agency on February 26 initiated criminal proceedings against Nguyen Van Hau (43), chairman of Phuc Son Group JSC and five other accomplices.
Based on preliminary investigation results, investigators on Thursday launched additional criminal proceedings with charges of “taking bribes, violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences, and making use of influence from officials for profiteering”.
Related to this investigation, a number of former and sitting officials of Quang Ngai and Vinh Long provinces have been arrested. Among them are Cao Khoa, former chairman of Quang Ngai; Dang Van Minh, chairman of Quang Ngai and former director of this province’s Department of Transport; and other former officials of the department.