Vietnam police have reportedly detained a former chairman of state-owned PetroVietnam, who was also a former deputy trade minister as the government inspectorate office criticised the ministry for lack of oversight and failing to detect violations of petroleum traders, according to Bloomberg.

Hoang Quoc Vuong was arrested for alleged abuse of power as part of an ongoing trade ministry investigation, Bloomberg reported, citing a statement on the Ministry of Public Security’s website.

Vuong retired as PetroVietnam chairman on 1 January, the government statement said. He had previously been Vietnam’s deputy trade minister between 2015 and 2020 and was in charge of sectors including renewable energy and electricity, local media VnExpress reported.

An email request for comment from PetroVietnam sent to the stated address on PetroVietnam’s website bounced back undelivered.

Bloomberg noted that Vuong’s detention comes after many arrests since 2021 of government officials and business executives under an anti-graft crackdown that Vietnam’s Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong described as a “blazing furnace”.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party’s inspection panel in December said it had detected violations in regulating development mechanisms for solar and wind power policy that potentially could cause losses to the state, according to the news agency.