Vietnam ex-minister gets life sentence in bribery case
A court in Vietnam sentenced a former communications minister to life in prison Saturday for receiving millions of dollars in bribes, as the hardline administration presses its anti-graft drive against once-powerful figures in the communist state.
Nguyen Bac Son was charged alongside his then-deputy Truong Minh Tuan with receiving $3.2 million in bribes to approve the 2015 purchase of a TV firm that would have lost state-run telecommunications firm Mobifone $300 million.
The two-week trial in Hanoi for the men -- once members of the powerful communist party central committee -- ended Saturday, according to state-run media Tuoi Tre.
Son, a minister from 2011-2016, was sentenced to life in prison while Tuan -- who took over as minister until he was fired in July last year -- got 14 years in prison.
“The defendants’ behaviour caused bad opinions in society, resulting in especially huge losses for the state,” state media quoted the verdict as saying.
It also “caused $300 million in losses to state coffers,” the verdict said, though the transaction was never fully completed.
Son reportedly admitted wrongdoing before the court and asked for leniency, while Tuan said he was “shameful for his mistakes”, said Tuoi Tre.
Prosecutors had initially proposed the death penalty for Son, but he was spared after he returned the money on Friday before the verdict’s announcement.
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