Former Chairman Le Quang Thung was imprisoned for spending billions of dollars, just released from prison and arrested again

Running a corporation in its heyday

On May 23, the Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency (C03) initiated a criminal case of "Violating regulations on management and use of State assets causing loss and waste" occurring at the Vietnam Rubber Industry Group (VRG) and related units. The case is related to violations at the land project at 39-39B Ben Van Don, Ward 12, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City.

The investigation agency also prosecuted, detained and executed search warrants on 9 people to investigate the crime of "Violating regulations on management and use of State assets causing loss and waste", stipulated in Clause 3, Article 219 of the 2015 Penal Code, including Mr. Le Quang Thung, former General Director and Acting Chairman of the Vietnam Rubber Group.

Previously, in March 2010, Mr. Le Quang Thung was appointed as Acting Chairman of the Board of Directors (BOD) of the Vietnam Rubber Industry Group. At that time, Mr. Thung replaced the position of Mr. Ho Xuan Hung, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, concurrently Chairman of the Board of Directors of VRG.

Before Mr. Thung was appointed as acting chairman of the group, the unit was in a period of crisis.

Specifically, at the end of April 2008, former VRG Chairman Tran Kien Quyet was dismissed by the Prime Minister due to "violation of legal regulations on land management and use during his time as director of Tan Bien Rubber Company under VRG". During the period after that until March 2010, this position was held by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ho Xuan Hung until Mr. Le Quang Thung received the Prime Minister's appointment decision.

Before taking the position of Acting Chairman of VRG Board of Directors, Mr. Le Quang Thung was the General Director of this group. Holding the position of Acting Chairman of the group for just over 1 year, Mr. Thung retired from January 1, 2012.

It is worth mentioning that the period when Mr. Thung was the general director and then acting chairman of VRG was also the golden age of the industry that is considered as “white gold” of Vietnam. At that time, rubber prices reached a record high, the planting area was expanded across the country on a very large scale, people even went to Laos and Cambodia to plant rubber.

That makes VRG, although operating in the agricultural sector, have a lot of money and become very hot. Money from rubber flows into many fields of finance, real estate, banking...

After retiring, Mr. Le Quang Thung assumed the position of member of the Board of Directors of SHB Bank from May 5, 2012. On August 3, 2015, the Board of Directors of SHB Bank agreed to let Mr. Thung resign from the above position to focus on medical treatment according to his personal wishes.

Constantly in trouble with the law

Although he thought he would "land" safely after retirement, Mr. Le Quang Thung continued to get into trouble with the law.

In December 2014, the Government Inspectorate issued an inspection conclusion at the Vietnam Rubber Group. The conclusion stated that during the period from 2006 to 2011, VRG had committed a series of violations in capital management and use, with a total amount of nearly VND 8,400 billion that needed to be handled, and many large amounts of money had yet to be remedied.

Notably, the investment in contributing capital to establish Phu Rieng - Kratie Rubber Joint Stock Company to invest in rubber plantations in Cambodia has caused many serious violations, with the potential loss of more than 483 billion VND. Meanwhile, VRG and the investor also borrowed capital, guaranteed bank loans and misused nearly 1.9 million USD, which had not yet been recovered.

In addition, VRG has invested 2,500 billion VND in companies operating in the fields of hydropower, cement, hotel business, steel, securities... For example, VRG has invested more than 391 billion VND in VRG Phu Yen Hydropower Investment Joint Stock Company, FICO Tay Ninh Cement Joint Stock Company, Central Construction Corporation but for 5 consecutive years there has been no profit sharing.

VGR invested more than 200 billion in Rubber Trade and Tourism Joint Stock Company, but only in 2008 did it have a profit of more than 200 million VND, and all the following years were losses; nearly 400 billion invested in Saigon VRG Joint Stock Company, Viet Lao Electricity Joint Stock Company, ESSAR Steel Joint Stock Company, EVN International Joint Stock Company for 4 consecutive years all had no profit to be shared.

In addition, VGR also bought back more than 20 million SHB shares, with a total value of more than VND 220 billion, but bought at a price higher than the market price, leading to increased costs and a waste of investment capital of more than VND 18 billion.

The inspection process also discovered that some VRG leaders contributed personal and family capital to found, lead, manage and operate the Dong Thap Seafood Processing and Import-Export Joint Stock Company (DSEC). In particular, the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of VRG also held the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of DSEC; and the General Director of Rubber Industry and Import-Export Joint Stock Company also held the position of General Director of DSEC,... violating the 2005 Enterprise Law.

According to the conclusion of the Government Inspectorate, VRG and its member companies invested capital, managed and used it at DSEC, due to the company's continuous business losses, and have now lost most of its charter capital, about 144 billion VND...

After the investigation, the prosecution agency determined that Mr. Le Quang Thung took advantage of his position as Chairman of the Board of Directors of VRG Group to direct 6 member companies of VRG: Dong Nai Rubber Corporation, Phu Rieng - Kratie Rubber Company, Rubber Finance Company, Rubber Real Estate Company, Chu Pah Rubber Company, Chu Pah Rubber Service and Services Joint Stock Company to contribute nearly 84.5 billion VND to DSEC but did not prepare an investment plan for the Board of Directors of the group to appraise and approve, resulting in an unrecoverable loss of more than 43 billion VND.

With the above series of violations, on December 12, 2017, Mr. Le Quang Thung, former General Director, acting Chairman of VRG, and 4 others were prosecuted for the crime of "Intentionally violating state regulations on economic management causing serious consequences" occurring at the Vietnam Rubber Industry Group and its member units.

In August 2019, Mr. Thung was sentenced to 4 years in prison by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court for intentionally violating State regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences, causing a loss of more than 43 billion VND to the budget.

Not long after his prison term ended, Mr. Le Quang Thung was once again involved in a new case as mentioned above.

On May 23, Mr. Thung was prosecuted and detained for investigation on the charge of "Violating regulations on management and use of State assets causing loss and waste", a case related to violations at the land project at 39-39B Ben Van Don, Ward 12, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City.