Former BIDV executives get jail terms of 6.5-8 years

HCMC – Tran Luc Lang and Doan Anh Sang, former deputy general directors of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) have been sentenced to eight and 6.5 years in jail, respectively, for their violations that caused huge losses for the bank.

They were charged with violating regulations on banking operations and other activities relating to these operations, the local media reported.

The Hanoi People’s Court on November 2 handed down sentences on 12 defendants, including eight leaders and employees of BIDV, who caused losses of nearly VND1.7 trillion for the bank.

Besides Lang and Sang, six other defendants were accused of the same charge.

Of them, Kieu Dinh Hoa, former director of BIDV’s Ha Tinh branch, was sentenced to five years.

Meanwhile, the court gave a three-year suspended sentence to Le Thi Van Anh, former head of the corporate client division at BIDV’s Ha Tinh branch.

In addition, Ngo Duy Chinh, former director of BIDV’s Ha Thanh branch; Nguyen Xuan Giap, former deputy director of the branch and Pham Hong Quang, former head of BIDV Ha Thanh’s customer service division, were sentenced to seven, six and four years, respectively.

Dang Thanh Nam, an ex-official in charge of customer management at BIDV’s Ha Thanh branch, received a 3.5-year jail term.

Moreover, prison terms of 12 and 18 years were proposed for Dinh Van Dung, former general directors of Binh Ha Company and Doan Hong Dung, former director of Trung Dung Company.

Tran Anh Quang, former general directors of Binh Ha Company, got 13 years behind bars and Nguyen Thi Thanh Son, former director of Ha Nam Company and a capital contributor of Trung Dung Company, was jailed for three years.

These four defendants were accused of abusing trust to appropriate assets.

According to the indictment, from 2011 to 2016, former BIDV Chairman Tran Bac Ha, who died while undergoing detention, was the mastermind behind the case. Ha, taking advantage of his position, directed his subordinates at BIDV and its Ha Tinh and Ha Thanh branches to grant loans to the Binh Ha and Trung Dung companies with incentives that went against the regulations of the State Bank of Vietnam and BIDV although the two companies did not have enough financial capital to be eligible to borrow the loans.

BIDV Ha Tinh disbursed loans worth over VND2.6 trillion to Binh Ha Company and later failed to control the amount, and the shareholders of Binh Ha used the money for improper purposes.

By November 2018, the company still owed the bank VND1.2 trillion, including nearly VND800 billion of irrecoverable debts.

Ha also asked the subordinates at BIDV’s Ha Thanh branch to approve 26 loans for Hanoi-based Trung Dung Company, causing damages worth more than VND864 billion.