Vietnam began the trial on Monday of 22 executives charged over losses at the state oil firm, including a businessman Germany accuses Hanoi of kidnapping from a Berlin park and the communist state’s first politburo member to face trial in decades. Former PetroVietnam chairman Dinh La Thang, 56, was arrested on Dec 8. Thang, also a former member of Vietnam’s politburo, was the most senior executive arrested in the scandal. Police have said they are investigating alleged violations of state rules at PetroVietnam, which resulted in a loss of an 800 billion dong ($35.2 million) investment in local lender Ocean Bank.