A court jailed 23 officials and businesspeople over the illegal exploitation and export of rare earths.
The trial comes after the US Geological Survey (USGS) this year significantly revised down its estimate of rare earth deposits in Vietnam, which it once considered the world’s second largest.
The nine-day trial in Hanoi saw verdicts handed down to 27 defendants, including former Natural Resources and Environment deputy minister Nguyen Linh Ngoc, who was given three years in jail for “violating state regulations causing wastefulness”.
Others were given a range of prison sentences – with 16 years being the highest – for a number of offences, including violation of regulations on natural resources exploitation and causing environmental pollution.
Four people were given suspended sentences.
According to the court, the case concerning the exploitation, trade and export of mineral resources was “especially serious”.
The court said that a firm called Thai Duong Company was unlawfully granted a mining licence for rare earth exploitation in Yen Phu mine in the mountainous Yen Bai northern province between 2019 and 2023.
Defendants involved – including environment officials as well as chief accountants and executives at various companies – sold the rare earths and iron ore from the mine for close to US$30mil (RM128mil).
USGS slashed this year its estimate of Vietnam’s rare earth reserves from an estimated 22 million tonnes to 3.5 million, threatening its ambitions to compete with Beijing in a sector crucial to high-tech devices. — AFP
