MPS proposes penalizing former Sabeco executives
MPS proposes penalizing former Sabeco executives
A driver transports beer products bearing the Sabeco brand. The Ministry of Public Security proposed penalizing several ex-executives of the State-run Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Company (Sabeco) – PHOTO: MINH TAM
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Following a probe into irregularities over the handover of a prime plot of land at
No. 2-4-6 Hai Ba Trung Street in HCMC’s District 1, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) has proposed penalizing several ex-executives of the Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Company (Sabeco) and senior government officials.
MPS proposed taking Party disciplinary action against Cao Quoc Hung, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade and Phan Dang Tuan and Vo Thanh Ha, who both served as chairperson of Sabeco which was then a State-run business, Nguoi Lao Dong news site reported.
Apart from this, the police asked that certain individuals be sanctioned, comprising Nguyen Minh An, former deputy general director of Sabeco; Pham Thi Hong Hanh, Sabeco's former general director; Le Hong Xanh, Sabeco's former deputy general director and Bui Ngoc Hanh, former member of the Sabeco board.
In 2008, the HCMC government handed over over 6,000 square meters of land at No. 2-4-6 Hai Ba Trung Street to Sabeco to develop a trade, service and office center called the Saigon Me Linh Tower, with a total investment of over VND2.4 trillion. After that, Sabeco teamed up with three corporate shareholders in the private sector to form Sabeco Pearl Investment JSC, in which Sabeco held a 26% stake, to carry out the project.
However, the brewer sold out its entire stake in Sabeco Pearl in 2016, effectively transferring the land use rights from the State sector to the private sector, which is a violation of prevailing laws and regulations.
The ministry stated that the prevailing regulations have a number of loopholes, allowing individuals to dodge laws to set up joint ventures and gradually transfer public assets to the private sector.
