Northern province investigates bureaucrat's meteoric promotion amid media frenzy

By Le Hoang   March 8, 2017 | 08:15 pm PT
Northern province investigates bureaucrat's meteoric promotion amid media frenzy
Construction Department of Thanh Hoa Province. Photo by VnExpress/Le Hoang
High-level Party officials have denied the rising bureaucrat held outsized personal assets or improper relations with her superiors.

A provincial government in central Vietnam said Wednesday has ordered an investigation into the fast-track promotion of a manager at the department of construction in Thanh Hoa Province, while denying that she had outsized personal assets or improper relations with high-ranking officials.

The People's Committee of Thanh Hoa Province recently announced that it had directed its inspectorate to review the process by which Tran Vu Quynh Anh came to head the housing and real estate market management unit of the provincial department of construction.

The investigation should be concluded by March 30, according to the public announcement.

Last September, Thanh Nien newspaper began running stories alleging that Anh had served as a deputy manager of her unit for just six months prior to her promotion to head the unit in 2015. Without citing sources, the paper further reported that Anh and her relatives held siginifcant real estate assets and a Cadillac automobile.  

Nevertheless, the stories spawned a frenzy of reporting throughout Vietnam. 

When contacted by VnExpress, Trinh Van Chien, the Communist Party Secretary of Thanh Hoa Province, rejected a spate rumors that he'd had an improper relationship with Anh. Chien and other Thanh Hoa officials have also publicly dismissed accounts of Anh's significant property holdings as false.

In the past year, Vietnam has kicked off new efforts to increase transparency and fight corruption as it seeks to address concerns held by foreign and domestic investors. The country received a record inflow of $15.8 billion in foreign direct investment in 2016.

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