Deputy trade minister arrested for taking bribes in oil trading company scandal

Do Thang Hai, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, has been detained by investigators of the Ministry of Public Security to be investigated for receiving bribes, spokesman for the ministry To An Xo said Thursday.

Hai has been the spokesman for the trade ministry for many years. He has been the deputy minister since 2014. At the ministry, he was in charge of the domestic market department, the European-American market department, the bureau of industry, as well as directly providing instructions on fields like fuel, trade promotion and the markets of European and American countries.

The Inspection Commission of the Party Central Committee announced at a meeting Wednesday that Hai and several other officials at the trade ministry’s Party Committees for the 2016-2021 and the 2021-2026 term had committed violations regarding the issuing of policies for the development of solar and wind power, the approval of fuel business, among others.

Hai’s arrest is the latest development in a larger case involving bribery and mismanagement of state resources at the Xuyen Viet Oil Travel and Transport Trading Company, and certain other associated entities.

Director of the Ho Chi Minh Finance Department Le Duy Minh was arrested Tuesday for allegedly receiving bribes involving the case. Also related to the case, Le Duc Tho, a former Party secretary of Ben Tre Province in the Mekong Delta, was arrested for abuse of power.

Mai Thi Hong Hanh, director of Xuyen Viet Oil, and one of her subordinates, Nguyen Thi Nhu Phuong, were arrested for violations related to management of the company and use of public assets.

Established in 2005 and headquartered in HCMC, Xuyen Viet Oil’s markets for fuels were mainly in the Central Highlands provinces.

In August it had its license for exporting and importing oil canceled by the trade ministry. An inspection had found several violations of oil distribution regulations.