>>Cinema Department struggles with fraud aftermath
The embattled Department of Cinema, currently mired in the aftermath of a multi-billion dong fraud scandal has cancelled a press conference to promote the Ho Chi Minh Sea Trail movie week.
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| One of ships transporting weapons across the East Sea during the American War |
The department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism usually holds a press conference prior to the opening of a film week.
However, after the recent scandal where VND36.8 billion (USD1.76 million) of departmental funding went missing, the department instead decided to only press release reporters by email.
Financial scam
Following the discovery of the missing finances, department Director Lai Van Sinh and Deputy Director Le Ngoc Minh both tendered their resignations.
The ministry has established an investigative agency to work with the department to get to the bottom of the missing millions.
According to the findings of the preliminary investigation, Pham Thanh Hai, the department\'s chief accountant falsified documents to withdraw VND36.8 billion. As soon as the case broke, Hai fled on May 25.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security is working with Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant for Hai.
Many artists believe the department’s director and deputy director should be held responsible because of their lax management, and there are increased calls for further investigations.
After the resignation of the two department officials, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism decided to assign Dr. Le Phuong Lan of the ministry’s Department of International Co-operation as Deputy Director of the Cinema Department, beginning from September 20.
Cancelled press conference
Newly-appointed Deputy Director of the Cinema Department Le Phuong Lan said, “The department often holds a press conference to promote a new feature film. Nevertheless, this film week only features video films, so we decided not to hold a conference.”
“It’s true that we face financial difficulties, but that isn’t the reason for not holding the conference,” Lan added.
The film week to mark the 50th anniversary of opening of the Ho Chi Minh Sea Trail will be organised from October 18-24 nationwide. Most of the films shown during the event are produced by the Military Film Studio and the Central Documentary Science Film Studio such as the Ho Chi Minh Sea Trail, Class on Sea and Ly Son Island.
The Ho Chi Minh Sea Trail film will be the highlight of the event. The film describes the maritime supply-line used to funnel weapons and supplies to the southern front during the American War.
