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.

Dinh La Thang, who served as Minister of Transport between August 2011 and February 2016, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the bidding and accounting fraud in the HCM City-Trung Luong Expressway project, a major toll road in southern Vietnam.

The Supreme People’s Procuracy on November 26 decided to prosecute Nguyen Duc Chung, former Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, and accomplices for “appropriating State secret documents” under Article 337 of the Penal Code.

“The death penalty could be considered for such act in accordance with the Penal Code. In this very urgent situation, when the whole country is trying hard to fight COVID-19, it is necessary to strictly punish such acts for deterrence."