VIETSE former director Ngô Thị Tố Nhiên.

HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội police have initiated legal proceedings against and arrested Ngô Thị Tố Nhiên, director of the Việt Nam Initiative for Energy Transition Social Enterprise, for allegedly appropriating internal documents regarding the state-owned utility corporation Electricity of Việt Nam, according to Lieutenant General Tô Ân Xô, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security.

Xô said two others, Dương Đức Việt, 44, senior specialist of the investment management committee of the National Power Transmission Corporation under EVN; and Lê Quốc Anh, 39, head of the system analysis department of the Power Engineering Consulting 1 company, were also arrested on the same charge.

According to the police’s investigation results, since 2020, Nhiên knew Anh and Việt had the right to access information and documents regarding EVN's policies and planning for the power grid development (including 500kW and 220kW transmission lines). She then signed part-time labour and expert contracts with Anh and Việt in exchange for them supplying the information and documents to her.

"These are internal documents, which are not allowed to be shared or publicised," Xô said, pointing out that these three persons' act constituted the appropriation of agencies and organisations' documents under Article 342 of the Penal Code.

Police are conducting further investigations into the case.

Lieutenant General Tô Ân Xô added that after Nhiên was prosecuted, several foreign media agencies and exiled reactionary organisations falsely accused Việt Nam of arresting environmental activists.

The Ministry of Public Security rejected the slanderous allegations and considered it an act of interference in Việt Nam's internal activities, Xô affirmed.

Last week, the former director of an environmental NGO CHANGE, Hoàng Thị Minh Hồng, was given a three-year prison sentence for tax evasion.

In addition to returning VNĐ6.7 billion (US$274,600) of tax, she is also subjected to an additional fine of VNĐ100 million ($4,098).

According to court documents, from 2012 to 2022, her environmental non-profit organisation CHANGE generated more than VNĐ69 billion ($2.8 million) in revenue.

The organisation did not issue value-added invoices and fully conducted procedures related to accounting, invoicing and documents which led to the VNĐ6.7 billion tax evasion.

Hồng has admitted guilt in court and her family has returned VNĐ3.5 billion ($143,430) for leniency. — VNS