Wealthy Vietnam MP sacked over husband fraud claim [-That wouldn't happen with the corrupt CPP]

05/26/2012
AFP

One of Vietnam's wealthiest people was ousted from the communist parliament Saturday, reports said, after she was accused of failing to disclose that her Vietnamese-American husband was wanted for fraud.

Dang Thi Hoang Yen, chairwoman of industrial park developer Tan Tao Group, lost her seat on the 500-member national assembly after a vote that saw 457 deputies in support of her sacking, according to the Thanh Nien newspaper.

Earlier reports in the state-sanctioned media claimed Yen -- who was ranked Vietnam's 37th-wealthiest individual in 2011, according to stock-market holdings, and was in the top 10 from 2008 to 2010 -- failed to alert authorities to the fact her husband was wanted by the police.

She is married to Vietnamese-American Jimmy Tran, who now lives in the US. In 2010, the 57-year-old Tran was accused of "abusing trust to appropriate assets" at a private company.

Yen, 53, also omitted to mention that she was a member of the ruling communist party in her first application to be a parliamentary candidate, reports said.

Under Vietnamese law, a parliamentarian can be removed for making false declarations on their application for the post.

Publicity surrounding the case could point to a political campaign against her, perhaps by those jealous of her wealth and success, analysts say.