Two more arrested over Vietnam Airlines fuel scam
HANOI - The director and chief financial officer of Vietnam Airlines' gasoline trading subsidiary, Vinapco, have been arrested following a corruption probe into company finances, state media said. The arrests of Tran Minh, 54, and Do Dinh Tu, 39, at their homes in Hanoi on Monday takes the number of Vinapco officials charged in the case to six. Four businessmen have also been arrested.
The ruling Communist Party's Nhan Dan newspaper said Minh and Tu have been accused of direct involvement in the illegal export of fuel via intermediaries to private traders in Cambodia. Vinapco has a monopoly on the import of aviation fuel into Vietnam. The 10 men banked 124.8 billion dong (635,000 dollars) from these activities, the Hanoi police newspaper, An Ninh Thu Do, said.
According to a preliminary report released last month by the State Inspectorate, Vinapco generated profits of 404 billion dong (25.6 million dollars) between 1996 and 2003 in importing aviation fuel and then reselling it to Vietnam Airlines. However, in its non-aviation business, Vinapco lost 243 billion dong (15.4 million dollars) in fuel trading between 1999 and 2003.
Vietnam's communist regime has vowed to stamp out the rampant corruption that permeates the government and state sector. Critics, however, say the crackdown is highly selective and some high-ranking cadres have acquired de facto immunity from prosecution.
Agence France Presse - November 16, 2004
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