PetroVietnam ex-chairman arrested on fraud charges

Ministry of Public Security officers have arrested former chairman of state-owned Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) Nguyen Xuan Son, 52, last Tuesday on suspicion of fraud, reports Reuters.

Son had been fired last Sunday as chairman of PetroVietnam, the state-owned oil and gas company, for abuse of power during his time as CEO of a local bank.  He had only been appointed chairman of the energy company in 2014. 

The alleged violations took place when Son was CEO of Ocean Commercial Bank between December 2008 and November 2010.

Ocean Bank has been immersed in a series of corruption cases since last year, with a number of its executives already arrested. Son was responsible for the decision to invest $36.66 million in the bank, which was later acquired by Vietnam´s central bank due to its critical financial condition

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has named Nguyen Quoc Khanh as new CEO of PetroVietnam on a temporary basis.