HCMC – Le Duc Tho, former Party secretary of Ben Tre Province, has been detained on alleged charges of abusing his position and power to influence others for personal gains.
Lieutenant General To An Xo, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), announced on December 14 that the ministry’s Security Investigation Agency had pressed charges against Tho and put him in custody.
This is the latest legal action taken against Tho over alleged violations of regulations on the management and use of State assets. The charges include practices causing financial losses and waste, lack of responsibility leading to severe consequences, accepting and giving bribes, and exploiting his position and power to influence others for personal gains, which was discovered at Xuyen Viet Oil Travel and Transport Trading Co., Ltd.
Following the formal charges, the MPS also searched Tho’s residence and workplace, as part of the ongoing investigation.
Previously, the Security Investigation Agency filed charges against Mai Thi Hong Hanh, 1979, and Nguyen Thi Nhu Phuong, 1992, who served as director and deputy director of Xuyen Viet Oil Company, one of the 40 major petroleum trading firms in the nation.
In July 2022, the company was slapped with a 1.5-month suspension of its petroleum import and export business license. Moreover, the company faced an issue related to a tax payment exceeding VND680 billion, as determined by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
