CANBERRA — The Australian government on Tuesday called on Vietnamese authorities to speed up the questioning of two senior Qantas Airways Ltd. employees so they can return to Australia.

The two — Daniela Marsilli and Tristan Freeman — can’t leave Vietnam as authorities investigate loss-making fuel-hedging trades. Ms. Marsilli is chief operating officer, and Mr. Freeman is chief financial officer, of Vietnamese airline Jetstar Pacific, in which Qantas owns a 27% stake.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said he spoke in Perth on Friday with Vietnam’s ambassador to Australia, saying that Canberra has a “keen interest” in the two executives. The ambassador said this would be relayed to Vietnamese authorities.

“The focus of Vietnamese authorities is an investigation where they want the two Qantas or Jetstar executives to assist them in their investigations. But it’s been made quite clear to me that the Qantas executives or the Jetstar executives aren’t the focus of the investigation,” Mr. Smith told reporters.

The Australian government has made it clear to Vietnam that “the sooner the investigation concludes, the sooner the Australians are able to return to Australia, the better we’ll all be,” the minister said.

It isn’t clear when Vietnam barred the executives from traveling, with an Australian government spokesman saying earlier in January that officials raised the issue with the Vietnamese ambassador in Canberra on Dec. 24. The two haven’t been detained.

Mr. Smith also said that Qantas executives remain in direct contact with Vietnamese authorities, “as they should.”

The former chief executive of Jetstar Pacific, Luong Hoia Nam, has been arrested by Vietnam police in relation to the fuel hedging losses, which came to almost A$34 million. Mr. Nam stepped down from the top role in November for personal reasons.
Source:Here