Vietnamese bankers held in scandal

Vietnamese bankers held in scandal

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (Reuter): Banking officials in Ho
Chi Minh City said yesterday that police had detained seven
senior banking executives in the latest twist to a debt scandal
surrounding two of Vietnam's largest conglomerates.

The officials said that the five senior Incombank employees
and two executives from the country's biggest state-owned bank,
Vietcombank, were arrested Saturday.

The arrests were the latest in a widening scandal surrounding
debt-crippled firms Minh Phung and EPCO, whose directors were
detained in March and subsequently charged with fraud.

More than 20 others have been arrested since then in a case
whose scale and repercussions are continuing to emerge.