Former execs arrested for $150 million losses at PetroVietnam unit

By Xuan Hoa   September 15, 2016 | 09:14 pm PT
Former execs arrested for $150 million losses at PetroVietnam unit
Vu Duc Thuan, former general director of PetroVietnam Construction JSC. Photo courtesy of PetroVietnam Construction JSC
State inspectors found mismanagement under their watch which resulted in massive losses.

Police on Thursday arrested four former executives of PetroVietnam Construction JSC (PVC) as part of an investigation into nearly $150 million in losses accumulated under their watch at the unit of the state-owned oil giant.

A statement from the Ministry of Public Security said Vu Duc Thuan, former general director of PetroVietnam Construction JSC (PVC), his two deputies and chief accountant have been taken into custody.

They will be probed for charges of "violating economic management regulations causing serious consequences," it said.

PVC piled up huge losses of VND3.2 trillion, or more than $147 million, between 2011 and 2013, when Thuan was in charge.

Government inspectors found that the man and his team starting in 2009 had launched many offshoot companies and partnered with many companies, but few of the ventures proved effective.

Most of their business projects during the period ended up being delayed or even canceled.

PVC was assigned as the main contractor for major PetroVietnam projects, but then either assigned the contracts to member units or transferred them to private companies. This showed "a lack of responsibility and loose management," according to the inspectors.

No arrest has been announced for Trinh Xuan Thanh, PVC board chairman during the period.

Thanh has been holding various government positions before taking his current post as vice chairman of Hau Giang Province. 

He caught media attention recently for driving a $230,000 Lexus with a government license plate. The matter caused public anger over the waste of public money and caused Thanh to lose his Communist Party membership.

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