Ex-bankers punished for breaking loan provision rules

HCM City (VNA) – Punishments from five-years to life imprisonment were meted out to five defendants, including ex-staff members at a State-owned bank, guilty of misappropriating assets and violating loan provision regulations at a trial in Ho Chi Minh City on May 31.

The People’s Court of HCM City brought to trial Nguyen Duc Tri (former Director of KTT Construction Design Advisory Co. Ltd) and Truong Xuan Quang (former chief accountant at KTT).

Three others were ex-employees at the Binh Chanh branch of the State-owned Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank), namely Nguyen Van Loi (former Deputy Director of Agribank Binh Chanh), Tran Thi Hoang Yen (former deputy head of the business plan division), and Nguyen Thi Thanh Nga (former credit staff member).

According to the indictment, taking advantage of their acquaintance with former Director of Agribank Binh Chanh Ly Van Chuc, who now passed away, Tri and Quang forged a dossier on a project to build a residential area named Central Park in Tan Phu ward of HCM City’s District 7.

The falsification was to borrow 96 billion VND (nearly 4.29 million USD) from Agribank Binh Chanh while the project was not approved by authorised agencies.

Tri and Quang later forged construction material purchase contracts, which were part of the dossier, to persuade Agribank Binh Chanh to disburse 10 billion VND (446,700 USD).

The bank’s staff members, Loi, Yen and Nga, violated loan provision regulations and provided a 106 billion VND (4.73 million USD) loan for the KTT company. Tri and Quang misappropriated more than 99 billion VND (4.42 million USD) of the sum.

At the trial, the jury decided to sentence Tri to life imprisonment and his accessory, Quang, to 20 years in prison for swindling to misappropriate assets. They must also give a compensatory payment of over 231 billion VND, or 10.32 million USD (both principal and interest) to Agribank Binh Chanh.

Loi, Yen and Nga must serve seven, six and five years in prison, respectively, for breaking the loan provision regulations of credit institutions.

Previously, they caused a 27 billion VND (1.2 million USD) loss in another case and received prison terms for the crime at a trial on June 17, 2015.

In total, Loi has been sentenced to 15 years in prison while Yen and Nga, 13-year term each.-VNA