International arrest warrant issued against petro firm's former boss

The Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security has just issued an international arrest warrant against Trinh Xuan Thanh, the former board chairman of PetroVietnam Construction JSC (PVC), following the arrest of the firm's four other senior executives.

Trinh Xuan Thanh

The international arrest warrant has been issued for Thanh who is accused of economic management violations, leading to the loss of VND3.2 trillion (USD142 million) for PVC between 2011 and 2013 when he was the chairman of the company.

Thanh will be also prosecuted for the charge, the ministry said.

On September 16, police arrested four leaders of PVC to investigate into the company's loss. The arrested were Vu Duc Thuan, former general director of PVC; Truong Quoc Dung, former deputy director; Pham Tien Dat, former chief accountant and Nguyen Manh Tien who is now the PVC deputy director.

From PVC boss to being internationally wanted

Following the announcement of the huge losses in mid-2013, Thanh moved from PVC and from September 2013, he was appointed deputy office manager of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and chief representative of the ministry's office in the central region.

Just a short time after that, former Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang assigned Thanh to be head of the ministry’s enterprise reform board.

In early May 2015, he was appointed vice chairman of the southern province of Hau Giang's People's Committee. In June this year, he was elected as a National Assembly deputy.

At that time, he was found be illegally using a government blue plate for his luxury VND5.7 billion (USD255,189) Lexus LX570, and had his car exceeded the limit of VND920 million set for vehicles allocated to provincial officials.

After the Lexus scandal, the National Election Council deselected Thanh as a National Assembly deputy.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong requested an investigation into Thanh's use of blue plates as well as the appointment of him at the Ministry of Industry and Trade and at Hau Giang Province.

The secretariat of the Communist Party Central Committee agreed to expel Trinh Xuan Thanh as a member of the Hau Giang's Party Committee.

Thanh was requested to be present at Hau Giang Province on September 13 to work with local authorities on problems related to him; however, he did not attend the meeting.

Thanh was said to have fled overseas, so the Ministry of Public Security has issued an international wanted notice.