Ex-politburo member faces second graft trial Vietnam
A former politburo member went on trial in Vietnam Monday in his second corruption case this year, as the communist state continues its public crackdown on powerful figures in politics and business accused of graft. Dinh La Thang, who was also the former head of state-run oil giant PetroVietnam (PVN), is already serving a 13-year jail term for a previous conviction for corruption. The new trial sees him accused of approving a $35 million investment of state funds in Ocean Bank in 2008 without the authorisation of PVN's board or the Prime Minister. Prosecutors allege that "violated state regulations on economic management" causing heavy losses, according to Vietnam Law online, the Ministry of Justice's official mouthpiece. He faces up to 20 years in jail, and is accused along with five others in the trial expected to last 10 days. Thang is the most-high profile official to be charged in a corruption crackdown waged by a conservative leadership that assumed power since 2016. Dozens of bankers, businessmen and politicians have already been convicted as part of the government's anti-graft campaign that observers say is unprecedented in its scope and scale. Ocean Bank nearly folded after a massive fraud case involving dozens of bankers and businessmen who were tried last year. Among them was businessman Trinh Xuan Thanh, the head of PVN's construction subsidiary, who was sentenced to life for embezzlement. His case grabbed the global headlines when Thanh was allegedly abducted by Vietnamese security agents in a Berlin park last year. Hanoi insists Thanh returned to Vietnam voluntarily, but Berlin slammed the alleged kidnapping as a "scandalous violation" of its sovereignty and expelled two diplomats. The very public corruption crackdown has gripped a Communist country where the affairs of the powerful are normally kept secret.
