HANOI (Reuters) – A military court in Vietnam on Thursday sentenced a former coast guard commander to 16 years in prison, after finding him guilty of embezzlement in siphoning off $2 million from military procurement deals, state media reported.
Nguyen Van Son, 59, was convicted of masterminding the theft of 50 billion dong ($2.12 million) while head of the coast guard, in what the judge described as a “particularly serious case” that hurt the image of the defence services, Voice of Vietnam (VOV) reported. Six of his associates were also jailed.
They were the latest victims of a “blazing furnace” crackdown on corruption by long-serving Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong, which has this year seen the jailing of several high-ranking officials, the exit of the country’s president and dismissal of two former deputy prime ministers.
The six other former top coast guard officials received prison time ranging from 10 to 15 and a half years each for their involvement in the embezzlement, VOV said.
They were arrested last year, according to the defence ministry, which said Son was responsible for violations between 2015 and 2020, including “financial mismanagement” and “procurement irregularities”.
($1 = 23,569 dong)
(Reporting by Phuong Nguyen; Editing by Martin Petty)
