Vietnamese capital Hanoi People's Court on Wednesday handed down the death penalty on two former officials at the state-run Vinashin Ocean Shipping Company Limited (Vinashinlines) for embezzlement.

The duo are Tran Van Liem, former general director of Vinashinlines, and Giang Kim Dat, former acting head of Vinashinlines' sales department, reported Vietnam's state-run news agency VNA.

For other defendants in the case, Tran Van Khuong, the company's ex-chief accountant, was sentenced to life imprisonment also for embezzlement, while Giang Van Hien, father of Giang Kim Dat, was given a 12-year jail term for money laundering.

The court demanded the recovery of over 260 billion Vietnamese dong (11.56 million U.S. dollars) misappropriated by the defendants to return to the Vietnam's Ship Building Industry Corporation (Vinashin), the parent company of Vinashinlines.

The court held that there are sufficient grounds to confirm that during the process of purchasing and leasing ships, Liem, Dat and Khuong had abused their position and power to appropriate more than 260 billion Vietnamese dong of Vinashinlines. Specifically, Liem misappropriated 3.1 billion Vietnamese dong (138,000 U.S. dollars) while Dat embezzled around 255 billion Vietnamese dong (11.34 million U.S. dollars) and Khuong, 110,000 U.S. dollars.

Liem was pinpointed as the ringleader in the case, while Dat was a proactive accomplice and Khuong was an accomplice, said VNA

Source: Xinhua .