June 13
VIETNAM:
HANOI: Death penalty for embezzlement
A Vietnamese postal official has been sentenced to death for embezzling
US$60,000 (RM228,000) from state coffers, state media said today.
A provincial court found Tran Phuoc Toan, who worked at Vinh Loi district
post office in the province of Bac Lieu, guilty of embezzlement yesterday,
the Thanh Nien (Young People) daily reported.
The court found that Toan pocketed the money in 2001 and 2002 when he was
in charge of selling 114,100 pre-paid mobile phone cards worth US$2.74
million for the post office. He spent most of the money he embezzled on
buying lottery tickets and betting on cock-fighting, the paper said.
The court also jailed the director of the post office, Tran Van Quyen, for
four years for "dereliction of duty". At least 49 people have been
sentenced to death this year in the communist nation and 33 have been
executed by firing squad, according to figures from state media and court
officials.
In a bid to restore its moral and ideological legitimacy, the communist
regime has vowed to stamp out rampant corruption and other financial
crimes. In April an appeal court upheld the death penalty issued against a
director of a company under the agriculture ministry's control who was
found guilty of misappropriating US$4.7 million and causing losses of
US$2.2 million to state coffers.
(source: Agence France-Presse)
