Former Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong has been prosecuted and arrested for investigation of the acts of violating regulations on the use of state property, causing loss and waste according to Article 219, Penal Code 2015.

Former Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong

According to VietNamNet’s source, the Investigation Police Agency under the Ministry of Public Security has prosecuted Mr. Nguyen Hong Truong, former Deputy Minister of Transport, for breaching the regulations on the use of state assets, causing waste and losses. The investigation agency has also applied procedural measures against 3 other defendants, including former Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang.

Previously, in September 2019, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc stripped Truong of his title as former deputy minister of Transport between 2011-2015 and 2016-2017, as a disciplinary measure for his violations of regulations on the equitization of State-owned enterprises under the management of the ministry.

The PM’s decision followed the June 2019 action of the Party Secretariat, removing Truong from the Party unit of the Transport Ministry for the 2011-2016 and 2016-2021 tenures.

According to the Secretariat, Truong must be held responsible for the violations and shortcomings of the Party unit during his terms of office as deputy minister of transport and head of the Steering Committee for Enterprise Reform and Development, under the ministry.

Truong is personally accountable for his decisions in approving the corporate value, equitization plans and State capital divestment of many enterprises under the ministry’s management. He even suggested the then-prime minister approve equitization plans, which was beyond his mandate.

Also, he allowed the Vietnam Airlines Corporation to carry out a number of activities that went against the 2013 Enterprise Law and other regulations. Due to a lack of oversight, some businesses which he had overseen were found to have committed grievous errors, causing asset losses for the State. His violations were severe, tarnishing the prestige of the Party unit of the ministry and himself, according to the Party regulator.

Truong had worked as deputy minister of transport for 10 years since 2007. Earlier, he was vice chairman of Nghe An Province, his hometown, in north-central Vietnam. After his retirement, he was appointed president of the Vietnam Traffic Safety Association in late 2017.

Doan Bong