Two former executives from Vinashin Ocean Shipping (Vinashinlines) have been sentenced to death for corruption, while a third has been imprisoned for life.
Following a four-day trial the three senior executives from the former subsidiary of state-owned Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) were found guilty of having embezzled more than VND260bn ($11.5m) according to local reports.
Former Vinashinlies sales manager Giang Kim Dat, 40, and former director general Tran Van Liem, 62 were both sentenced to death for embezzling at least VND255bn. Meanwhile former chief accountant Tran Van Khuong, 67, was jailed for life for embezzling $110,000.
According to the indictment, between July 2006 and March 2007, Liem signed contracts to buy three foreign ships, Vinashin Summer from Panama, Vinashin Island from Croatia and Vinashin Phoenix from Greece. He authorised Dat to negotiate with the foreign partners.
Dat gained nearly VND11.5bn of commission during negotiations to buy the vessels. The three were said also to have earned VND250bn illegally from charter revenues from nine shipowners between May 2006 and June 2008.
The sentences for corruption are the latest involving former Vinashin executives. In 2012 former Vinashin chairman Pham Thanh Binh was jailed for 20 years, and eight other former senior executives were also given prison sentences.
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