HCMC – Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai has been detained on alleged charges of taking bribes in connection with the Xuyen Viet Oil case, said Lieutenant General To An Xo, spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Security (MPS).
His arrest comes as the police are broadening an investigation into violations of regulations on the management and use of State assets causing losses, lack of responsibility leading to severe consequences, accepting and giving bribes, which were discovered at Xuyen Viet Oil Travel and Transport Trading Co., Ltd and some agencies.
The police at the MPS searched Hai’s residence and workplace today, December 21.
Also involved in the case is Le Duy Minh, director of the HCMC Department of Finance, former director of the HCMC Tax Department, who was placed in police custody on December 19 on the same alleged charges.
In mid-December, Le Duc Tho, former Party secretary of Ben Tre Province, was arrested and charged with abusing his position and power to influence others for personal gains.
Prior to that, the police filed charges against Mai Thi Hong Hanh, born in 1979, and Nguyen Thi Nhu Phuong, born in 1992, who were director and deputy director at Xuyen Viet Oil, one of the 40 major petroleum trading firms in the nation.
