The chief executive of Vietnam’s troubled Asia Commercial Bank, Ly Xuan Hai, has been arrested on suspicion of committing economic crimes, the latest twist in a scandal that has renewed concern about the country’s struggling economy and its heavily indebted banking sector.

Police raided the banker’s home and office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s financial centre, on Thursday night and detained him for four months to conduct further investigations, the state news agency reported.

Mr Hai, who was educated in France and Belarus, could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty of the charges of “deliberately acting against state regulations on economic management and causing serious consequences”. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012)