Vietnamese police have arrested a former deputy environment minister, Nguyen Linh Ngoc, along with four other senior officials, for allegedly violating mining regulations. The arrests are part of a broader investigation into misconduct at a rare earth company in northern Vietnam. Ngoc, who served as the deputy minister of Natural Resources and Environment from 2010 to 2018, is accused of “deliberate violations of state economic management regulations, causing serious consequences,” according to the Ministry of Public Security.
Several officials from the ministry’s mining department were also detained on similar charges, though further details have not been disclosed. Attempts to reach the environment ministry for comment were unsuccessful.
Last year, authorities arrested senior executives, including the chairman of Thai Duong Group, a rare earth company in Yen Bai province, over allegations of forging value-added tax receipts in rare earth trading. The Ministry of Public Security stated that further investigations are ongoing to recover lost state assets. Vietnam holds the second-largest rare earth deposits globally, behind China, and has recently intensified efforts to curb illegal mining from abandoned pits.
By FCCT Editorial Team
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