Former Vinashin executive arrested after 5 years in hiding
Hanoi: Vietnam’s public security authority has arrested a former executive of Vinashin Ocean Shipping, the shipping line run by state-owned shipbuilding giant Vinashin, five years after he fled Vietnam to avoid investigations into corruption within the group.
Giang Kim Dat, 38, is a former sales manager at Vinashin Ocean Shipping. He will be investigated for multiple violations that allegedly caused losses of over $41m for the group. Dat reportedly admitted to take bribes of nearly $19m in the purchase deal of an Italian-made ship in 2007. The company spent around $67.5m on the ship, and later spent another $300,000 on repairs. The transaction caused close to $22.5m in losses, according to local reports.
Nine former officials of Vinashin, including its former chairman Pham Thanh Binh, were sentenced to jail in 2012, while former director of Vinashin Financial Company Ho Ngoc Yung is still at large.
Bankrupt Vinashin was restructured into the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation in 2013, and Vinashin Ocean Shipping filed for bankruptcy in 2014.