Ho Thi Kim Thoa reassigned after dismissal

Sabeco officially dismisses Vu Quang Hai

Ho Thi Kim Thoa, former Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade

On August 16, 2017, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc signed the Decision No.1203/QD-TTg to dismiss Ho Thi Kim Thoa from her position of Deputy Minister of MoIT. She will be reassigned to another task, but no specifics have been released yet.

On July 28, Ho Thi Kim Thoa submitted her resignation for personal reasons. On August 1, she handed in her leave of absence letter and since then she had not appeared at the ministry. During her off-work period, Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai has taken over her regular tasks.

Ho Thi Kim Thoa was born in 1960 in the central province of Nghe An, and she has been working in the field of industry and trade for a long time.

She worked in Dien Quang Lamp JSC from June 1992 at the Planning and Supplies Department. In 2005, she held the position of chairman cum general director of Dien Quang Lamp, and in 2010, she was appointed as MoIT’s Deputy Minister.

According to the conclusions of the Party Central Inspection Committee, Ho Thi Kim Thoa’s appointment of Trinh Xuan Thanh as well as other staff was found violating state regulations.

Besides, while serving as Dien Quang Lamp’s chairman cum general director, Thoa violated regulations and procedures on business equitisation and mishandled the loan interest of VND6.7 billion ($295,000) exempted by banks.

Additionally, she infringed on state regulations on land management when the company signed a contract with another company to invest in the land area at 12 Ton Dan Street in Ho Chi Minh City. She also failed to properly handle the VND30 billion ($1.3 million) collected from the transfer of land use rights.

Thoa bought more shares than the permissible level and her transfer of shares also violated the company’s regulations.

Although Thoa is no longer chairman and general director in Dien Quang Lamp, she still holds 4.91 per cent of the company’s chartered capital.

Moreover, her family members fill important positions at the corporation, including Ho Quynh Hung (Thoa’s brother) who is now chairman cum general director in Dien Quang Lamp, her daughter Nguyen Thai Nga who is a board member cum deputy general director, another daughter Nguyen Thai Quynh Le who is the head of the project department.

Due to Thoa’s scandal, Dien Quang Lamp’s stock (ticker DQC) has decreased by VND8,200 ($0.36) per share within a month, an equivalent of 17.2 per cent.

Even, when comparing to the price in the same period last year, DQC’s price declined by 48.68 per cent. Thus, the assets of Thoa’s family in Dien Quang Lamp have declined by VND96.6 billion ($4.3 million) compared to last month and VND435 billion ($19.1 million) compared to the same period last year.

Also, her assets in the company also declined by nearly VND14 billion ($616,000) within one month and more than VND66 billion ($2.9 million) within one year.

Thoa’s huge assets make people wonder. Once, when talking with reporters, Ho Thi Kim Thoa insisted that she declared her assets in accordance with state regulations. However, the Party Central Inspection Committee said, “For a long time now, Thoa has been declaring incorrect asset and income figures, which violates the regulations on asset and income declaration.”

According to the Party Central Inspection Committee, Thoa’s violations should be considered for disciplinary measures. Nevertheless, no action has been brought against Thoa yet.