Vietnam arrests 4 shipping execs in scandal

[May 18, 2012]  HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- State media say police have arrested four senior executives at a major state-owned shipping company for alleged mismanagement.

Online VnExpress says Duong Chi Dung, former chairman of Vietnam National Shipping Lines, or Vinalines, and three other executives were detained Friday for allegedly causing losses of $80 million from 2009-2010 after purchasing old ships and making poor investments.

Dung was promoted in February to head the government's Maritime Department.

The arrests come more than a month after nine senior executives of another major state-owned company, the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industrial Group, or Vinashin, were given lengthy jail sentences following a scandal that resulted in the lowering of Vietnam's credit rating.

[Associated Press]

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