Vietnam fires vice trade minister amid graft crackdown

HANOI, Vietnam – Vietnam’s vice trade minister has been fired for alleged wrongdoing as the ruling Communist Party widened its crackdown on corruption.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in a decision signed on Wednesday dismissed Vice Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa from her position. It gave no other details.

The party’s Inspection Committee had said last month Thoa had committed wrongdoing in buying and transferring shares of the Dien Quang Lamp joint stock company while she was chairwoman of its directors.

The ruling Communist Party and government have stepped up their anti-corruption drive over the past few years with courts handing down the death penalty against several senior executives.

Transparency International ranks Vietnam 113 out of 176 countries in its 2016 corruption index.