VietNamNet Bridge – A former civil servant at a provincial post office was handed the death penalty after a court in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu found her guilty of embezzlement yesterday.

Tang Thi Ba, 52, former cashier at Bac Lieu Post Office, was charged with embezzling State assets.

According to the court's verdict, between 2003 and 2006, when depositing the Post Office's funds in bank accounts, Ba misappropriated more than VND15.1bil.

She spent the money on gambling and personal expenditures, and it cannot be refunded, even though she was ordered by the court to repay VND15.1bil (US$940,000) to state coffers.

Bac Lieu People's Court also handed down sentences from two years and six months to six years imprisonment to other former officials at Bac Lieu Post Office, who were found guilty of "irresponsibility causing serious consequences to State assets".

(Source: Viet Nam News)