Đinh La Thăng

Đinh La Thăng
Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee
In office
5 February 2016 – 10 May 2017
Preceded byLê Thanh Hải
Succeeded byNguyễn Thiện Nhân
Minister of Transport
In office
8 August 2011 – 8 April 2016
Prime MinisterNguyễn Tấn Dũng
Preceded byHồ Nghĩa Dũng
Succeeded byTrương Quang Nghĩa
Chairman of Petrovietnam
In office
5 October 2006 – 3 August 2011
Prime MinisterNguyen Tan Dung
Member of the Politburo
In office
27 January 2016 – 7 May 2017
Personal details
Born (1960-04-10) 10 April 1960 (age 64)
Yên Bình, Ý Yên, Nam Định Province, North Vietnam
Political partyCommunist Party of Vietnam (1985–2018)
Alma materAcademy of Finance

Đinh La Thăng (Vietnamese pronunciation: [ʔɗïŋ˧˧ laː˧˧ tʰaŋ˧˧]; 10 September 1960) is a Vietnamese former politician who served as Minister of Transport, Communist Party Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City, and member of the Politburo.[1][2] On 22 January 2018 he became the first top Party official in several decades to be tried and sentenced to prison for political corruption.[3]

Early life and education

Đinh La Thăng was born in 1960 in Yên Bình Commune, Ý Yên District, Nam Định Province, and graduated from the University of Hanoi's School of Finance and Accounting (now the Academy of Finance[4]).

Career

He was a member of the 10th and 11th Central Committees of the Communist Party of Vietnam, a member of the 12th Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and also a member of the National Assembly of Vietnam from the XIth through XIIIth sessions.

He was the chairman of the Board of PetroVietnam, the national oil and gas company; Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party of Thừa Thiên–Huế Province (November 2003-December 2005); and Chairman of Song Da Corporation before he became the Minister of Transport.[5] (April 2001-October 2003).

When controversy erupted in May–June 2016 over the Americans' appointment of Bob Kerrey as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Fulbright University Vietnam (on 25 February 1969 Kerrey had commanded the U.S. Navy SEALS unit that carried out the Thạnh Phong massacre[6]), Đinh La Thăng was the only high-ranking Vietnamese official who publicly supported the selection of Kerrey.[7]

on 7 May 2017 Đinh La Thăng was expelled from his position in the Politburo due to his violations of the law while chairman of the Board of PetroVietnam, violations that led to embarrassing economic losses.[8][9]

He was arrested on 8 December 2017 for investigation of his mismanagement of PetroVietnam and bribes, resulting in a loss of 800 billion VND (US$35.28 million) from its investment in Oceanbank. On 22 January 2018 he was sentenced to 13 years in prison.[10]

He was tried again on 14 and 15 December 2020 for his involvement in another corruption scandal and received 10 years in prison.[11]

Personal life

He has a daughter, Đinh Hương Ly (born 1984), who worked for Morgan Stanley from 2006 to 2013.

References

  1. ^ Hữu Công (5 February 2016). "Ông Đinh La Thăng làm Bí thư TP HCM" [Mr. Đinh La Thăng made Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City] (in Vietnamese). Vn Express. Archived from the original on 5 February 2016.
  2. ^ Tân Phú (5 February 2016). "Ông Đinh La Thăng làm Bí thư Thành ủy TP.HCM; ông Võ Văn Thưởng làm Trưởng ban Tuyên giáo" (in Vietnamese). Thanh Niên Online. Archived from the original on 5 February 2016.
  3. ^ "Top Communist jailed in Vietnam trial". BBC News. 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  4. ^ Học viện Tài chính (Việt Nam)
  5. ^ Tổng công ty Sông Đà
  6. ^ Vistica, Gregory L. (25 April 2001). "One Awful Night in Thanh Phong". The New York Times.
  7. ^ "City Party Secretary Đinh La Thăng: Rising above hatred will make us stronger - Tuoi Tre News". Tuoi Tre News (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  8. ^ "Dinh La Thang becomes 3rd ousted Vietnamese Politburo member". Xinhua. 7 May 2017. Archived from the original on 8 May 2017.
  9. ^ "Dư luận mạng viết về đề nghị kỷ luật ông Đinh La Thăng" [Public opinion about Đinh La Thăng's disciplinary recommendations]. BBC News (in Vietnamese). 2 May 2017. Archived from the original on 2 May 2017.
  10. ^ "Vietnam jails former politburo official for 13 years in graft crackdown". Reuters. 22 January 2018.
  11. ^ Mr. Dinh La Thang was sentenced to 10 years in prison for high-speed violations in Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong Tuoi tre online(01/06/2021)
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