A court in Vietnam sentenced a former deputy minister of industry and trade to six years on Tuesday ( Apr 29 ) after convicting him of “power abuse” in a solar energy development plan.
To meet rising demand, the Southeast Asian nation is attempting to increase wind and solar generation and commit to achieving net-zero coal emissions by 2050.
Hoang Quoc Vuong, 62, admitted accepting a reward worth US$ 57,600 to finance solar power plants in southern Ninh Thuan state with special sales when they sold strength to the country’s electricity organization.
Vuong served as the deputy minister of trade and industry between 2015 and 2020 and as the chair of the state-owned Electricity of Vietnam ( EVN ) between 2012 and 2015.
In accordance with the conviction, EVN lost more than US$ 40 million from the state resources by purchasing renewable energy from three solar power plants in Ninh Thuan state between 2018 and 2020.
Vuong acknowledged to the court that he had received a pay but that his family had already paid it again.
” I believe that I had made mistakes that caused loss during my public work performance,” he said. Therefore, I accept liability for returning the money to the state, Vuong told the jury.
In his last words before the judge, Vuong claimed that his “worrydoings were terrible lessons, erasing my efforts ( to the condition ) in several positions.”
Eleven additional taxes and energy authorities in the case were also on trial. They received consequences that ranged from three-year suspended sentences to six-year jail time for causing them to abuse power and lacked responsibility.
Additionally, the Hanoi court ordered three power plants that benefited from EVN’s power sales to pay the US$$ 40 million in losses back to the state-owned group.