title: Vietnam prosecutes former state rubber firm chairman amid corruption crackdown
text: HANOI (Reuters) - A former chairman of state-run Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG) and four other officials from its units have been issued with prosecution and probation orders for alleged violations of state rules, Vietnamese police said on Tuesday. Communist Vietnam is in the middle of a sweeping corruption crackdown at state firms, banks and provinces, in a campaign that made global headlines this year when Germany accused the country of kidnapping a Vietnamese businessman in Berlin. Le Quang Thung, a former chairman of VRG, and four other officials including one current head accountant at VRG units were accused of deliberately acting against state regulations on economic management, police said on its website. Representatives from the company could not be reached for comment. Police said they are expanding investigations into alleged violations at VRG, two of its subsidiaries and related parties. Ho Chi Minh City-based VRG is the biggest state firm in the rubber industry. 