Defendants listen to the verdict (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Four former executives of Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical JSC (BSR) on January 22 were sentenced to four to eight years in prison for charges of “abusing position and power to appropriate assets”, following a two-day trial.
Specifically, Vu Manh Tung (born in 1974, former Deputy Director General of BSR) received an eight-year prison term; Nguyen Hoai Giang (born in 1968, former Chairman of BSR’s Council of Members) got seven years in prison; Pham Xuan Quang (born in 1980, former Chief Accountant of BSR) was sentenced to six years imprisonment; and Dinh Van Ngoc (born in 1973, former General Director of BSR) was handed a four-year imprisonment penalty.
According to the indictment, from 2009-2014, BSR – a subsidiary of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) based in the central province of Quang Ngai – made fixed-term and demand deposits at the Quang Ngai branch of OceanBank.
The move was made under PetroVietnam’s direction regarding the prioritisation of using OceanBank services, to which PetroVietnam contributed 20 percent of the charter capital.
As the then leaders of BSR in 2013 and 2014, the four defendants decided to deposit the company’s money at OceanBank and received extra interest payment which was not included in the contracts. The extra interest was paid by then General Director of OceanBank Nguyen Minh Thu, under the instruction of former Chairman of the Board of Directors of OceanBank Ha Van Tham.
Vu Manh Tung received and appropriated 2.9 billion VND (124,800 USD) and 40,000 USD; while Nguyen Hoai Giang pocketed 2.9 billion VND; Pham Xuan Quang, 1.8 billion VND and 20,000 USD; and Dinh Van Ngoc, 1.3 billion VND, the indictment reads.
The verdict said that the behaviour of the defendants was extremely serious and lasted for a long time, thus harming the legitimate activities of BSR and OceanBank and affecting the assets of the bank and its shareholders.
Their acts also had negative impact on the company’s economic activities, as well as the implementation of the State’s monetary and financial policies.
The court also asked the defendants to pay back the over 10 billion VND they had appropriated to Ha Van Tham, who was ordered to return the money to OceanBank.–VNA
VNA
