HCMC – Authorities have indicted an additional 72 individuals, including 23 high-ranking officials, in connection with the financial scandal involving Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group Corporation.
Since the beginning of this year, law enforcement agencies have initiated new proceedings against numerous individuals involved in several corruption scandals. Notably, the expansion of the Van Thinh Phat fraud scandal has resulted in the initiation of two additional cases, encompassing a total of 72 individuals.
Among those indicted are six officials from the Government Inspectorate of Vietnam, 12 from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), a department manager from the Government Office, a member of the National Financial Supervisory Commission, a Central Inspection Commission official, a provincial chief inspector from Lam Dong Province, and a deputy director from the SBV’s HCMC branch.
These indictments bring the total number of individuals charged in the case to 86.
The Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption, in a session on November 22, directed a comprehensive probe into irregularities in prominent corruption cases, including Viet A Technology Corporation, Advanced International JSC, FLC Group, Tan Hoang Minh Group, and Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB).
Legal proceedings are set to accelerate in the coming months for the Van Thinh Phat case, securities manipulation involving FLC chairman Trinh Van Quyet, and other cases related to Viet A and Tan Hoang Minh.
Year-to-date, legal actions have been initiated against 114 cases and 808 individuals across 49 localities, involving the freezing of assets and accounts worth over VND232 trillion. Law enforcement agencies have recovered over VND9 trillion.
The Criminal Investigation Agency has indicted Truong My Lan, chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group Corporation, on charges of embezzlement, banking regulation violations, and bribery. Lan is accused of orchestrating the falsification of 916 loan applications, misappropriating VND304 trillion, and causing nearly VND130 trillion in interest losses.
In the Van Thinh Phat case, 45 of the 86 individuals implicated are former executives and employees of SCB. Charges range from embezzlement to serious lapses in responsibility.
Do Thi Nhan, former chief of the Inspectorate and Supervision Department II under the SBV, is accused of accepting bribes exceeding US$5 million to facilitate the cover-up of serious wrongdoings within SCB.
