Former PVSD chairman arrested as corruption crackdown widens

Dinh Manh Thang, a former chairman of Petro Song Da Trading and Investment JSC (PVSD) was arrested on November 9 as the crackdown on corruption at the state-owned National Oil and Gas Group (PVN) widens.

Former PVSD Chairman Dinh Manh Thang
Former PVSD Chairman Dinh Manh Thang

>> Dinh La Thang arrested for alleged economic mismanagement at PVN

Thang was prosecuted on embezzlement charges as part of investigation into two cases of intentionally violating state regulations on economic management, leading to serious consequences at PVN and PVC, a subsidiary of PVN at the Thai Binh II Power Plant project.

Dinh Manh Thang, 55, is a younger brother of Dinh La Thang, who was arrested one day earlier for his primary responsibilities in the above-mentioned cases.

Prior to Dinh La Thang’s arrest, he had already been barred from all Party activities for the duration of the investigation and had his membership of the National Assembly suspended.

In May this year, Dinh La Thang had been removed from the Politburo, stripped of his post as Party chief of Ho Chi Minh City and transferred to the Central Economic Commission after being found to have committed multiple serious violations.

While head of PVN, Dinh La Thang signed a decision to invest in Oceanbank before the group’s board of directors met to approve the deal and allowed investment exceeding the maximum ratio allowed by the law on credit institutions.

He also assigned PVC to implement the Thai Binh II thermal power project, during which many wrongdoings were committed, causing huge losses to the state while the project has not been put into operation.