Former chairman of MobiFone to be arrested

Le Nam Tra, former chairman cum general director of MobiFone

On July 10, MoPS’ investigation agency started legal proceedings on the charge of “Offences against regulations on the management and use public capital that lead to serious consequences” (Article 220 of 2015 Criminal Code) at Vietnam Mobile Telecom Services One Member Limited Liability Company (MobiFone) and related agencies.

The investigation agency also issued a decision to prosecute and arrest Le Nam Tra (57), former chairman cum general director of MobiFone, and Pham Dinh Trong (48), director general of the Ministry of Information and Communications’ (MIC) Department of Enterprise Management for this charge. Their houses were searched on July 10.

Procedural decisions are issued more than a month after MoPS received all documents from the Government Inspectorate.

In March, the Government Inspectorate announced its conclusions on MobiFone’s acquisition of Audio Visual Global JSC (AVG). The conclusion stated that if the acquisition had not been cancelled, it would have caused financial damage in excess of VND7 trillion ($308.6 million) to the state.

MobiFone violated regulations on investment and the assessment of AVG’s financial status, as well as submitted dishonest and incomplete reports to MIC. The board of directors and chairman of MobiFone are responsible for these violations.

Pham Dinh Trong was head of the appraisal team of this project which did not sum up all comments from members. Also, Trong submitted the report to MIC for approval without securing the prime minister’s in-principle approval.

Le Nam Tra worked in Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) since 1989 and moved to MobiFone (formerly known as Vietnam Mobile Telecom Services Company–VMS) since 1994. He held several positions before being appointed as the chairman of the company in December 2014. In June 2017, he was moved to MIC.

Pham Dinh Trong worked at Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam JSC (BIDV), the Ministry of Finance’s (MoF) Department of Investment, MoF’s Office, and was secretary of the ministry’s leaders. In 2006, he was appointed deputy director general of MoF’s Insurance Supervisory Authority and director general of MIC’s Department of Enterprises Management.