Ethanol Phu Tho case: former PetroVietnam executive sentenced to 11 years in prison hinh anh 1Defendants at the court (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA)
- Former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) Dinh La Thang was sentenced to 11 years in prison, during a trial on the case of violating regulations on investment in construction works, causing serious consequences at an ethanol plant in the northern province of Phu Tho on March 15.

Thang was charged with “violating regulations on investment in construction works, causing serious consequences” in line with Article 224, Clause 3 of the 2015 Penal Code.

Combined with sentences given to him in previous cases, Thang will spend a total of 30 years in prison.

With the same charge, former General Director of the PetroVietnam PetroChemicals and Biofuel JSC (PVB) Vu Thanh Ha was given a jail term of six and a half years.

Tran Thi Binh, former Deputy Director General of PetroVietnam, received a 36-month suspended sentence.

Former General Director of the PetroVietnam Construction JSC (PVC) Pham Xuan Dieu will spend three and a half years behind bars, while former Deputy General Director of PVC Nguyen Ngoc Dung was sentenced to three years in prison.

Jail terms ranging from 24 to 30 months were handed down to other defendants for the same charge.  

Former Chairman of the Board of Directors and former General Director of the PetroVietnam Construction JSC (PVC) Trinh Xuan Thanh was sentenced to 10 years in prison for “violating regulations on investment in construction works, causing serious consequences”, and eight years behind bars for “abusing position and power while performing duties”. Taking into account previous sentences, he faced life imprisonment.

Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of the Kinh Bac Petroleum Construction and Investment JSC Do Van Hong was given a jail sentence of four years for “abusing position and power while performing duties”. Combined with sentences given to him earlier, Hong got a prison term of 17 years.

According to the indictment, Thang signed a resolution to approve the investment in the project in October 2007. With Thang’s instruction, PVC/Alfa Laval/Delta-T joint contractors, who had no previous experience in carrying out ethanol projects, were appointed to implement the project.

As a result, the project was continuously behind schedule and stopped in March 2013 with no construction items done.

Wrongdoings of the defendants were said to cause a loss of more than 543 billion VND (23.49 million USD).
 
Ethanol Phu Tho case: former PetroVietnam executive sentenced to 11 years in prison hinh anh 2At the court (Photo: VNA)


At the court, Thanh confessed that when signing the contract on the implementation of the project with a funding of 59 million USD, he was aware that the amount is not enough to cover the implementation.

The judge stated that Thang must take the main responsibility in selecting the contractor.

Such wrongdoings in contractor selection have resulted in the suspension of the project, with no items completed so far, according to the judge./.
VNA