The decision to reprimand Bon was signed by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc last Friday, following similar punishment meted out by the Communist Party's Central Inspection Committee last January.

The PM also issued official warnings to Dak Nong's vice chairman Truong Thanh Tung and his predecessors Do The Nhu and Nguyen Duc Luyen.

Vietnam's Communist Party has four modes of punishment against members: reprimand, warning, demotion and expulsion. The government has a similar four-tier punishment structure with the last one being dismissal.

In a report issued last December, the Central Inspection Committee concluded that Bon, as the province's chairman and deputy party secretary, had been irresponsible in his leadership, allowing multiple violations in the management, protection and development of forests to occur.

He and Tung were also found to have directly signed decisions to lease, assign and pay compensation for forest land in contravention of the law.

The committee issued a reprimand against Bon and a warning against Tung last January.

Nhu and Luyen received official warnings from the committee in July after they were found responsible for land and forestry violations committed by the Dak Nong People's Committee.

A sweeping corruption crackdown spearheaded by Party chief and President Nguyen Phu Trong has snared scores of high-profile officials over the last three years.

Last year, a large number of officials and businesspeople in the energy and banking sectors were prosecuted for corruption.