Vietnam executes two over corporate fraud
A Vietnamese businessman and a banker have been
executed for their role in fraudulently obtaining loans
worth $200 million, state media reported today.
Tang Minh Phung, 47, a businessman, and Pham Nhat
Hong, 60, a banker, were shot dead by firing squad in
southern Ho Chi Minh City after their appeals for
clemency were rejected by President Tran Duc Luong in
May, the Vietnam News daily said.
The two men - along with three others - were found guilty
of using false contracts and overvalued properties to
secure state loans beginning in 1993, the report said.
The others were also sentenced to death but it was unclear
when or if they would be executed.
Capital punishment for economic crimes are less common
than for other offences such as drug trafficking in
communist Vietnam.
But the country, the second fastest growing economy in
Asia after China, has become increasingly concerned
about corruption and graft.
ABC News Radio Australia - July 14, 2003.
|