Former deputy general director of the Hanoi-based Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) Tran Anh Sang, 57, has been charged with violating banking regulations and thus causing a hefty loss of VND890 billion (over US$38 million), reported the local media.

A combination photo of former deputy general director of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) Tran Anh Sang (L) and former BIDV chairman Tran Bac Ha 

Investigators at the Ministry of Public Security also detained four other incumbent BIDV officials on January 9 for the same charge, based on the 2015 Penal Code.

They are Ngo Duy Chinh, director of the BIDV branch of Thang Long; Nguyen Xuan Giap, deputy director of the BIDV branch of Ha Thanh; Pham Hong Quang, head of the corporate client division I at BIDV Ha Thanh; and Nguyen Thanh Nam, an employee at BIDV Ha Thanh. The branches are located in the capital city of Hanoi.

Meanwhile, Doan Trung Dung, director of Hanoi-based Trung Dung Trading and Tourist Co., Ltd, is being kept in police custody in connection with the case for abuse of trust to appropriate assets.

On Wednesday, the police raided the houses and workplaces of these individuals to collect additional evidence.

The results of the initial investigation revealed that the former BIDV senior executive Sang had committed violations in the appraisal, proposal and approval of loans for Binh Ha Breeding JSC, located in the north-central coastal province of Ha Tinh.

The loans were disbursed with preferential treatments in violation of regulations on banking operations, leading to total losses of VND890 billion for the bank.

Binh Ha Co. set up a VND4.2-trillion high-tech cow farming project in 2015, covering more than 2,000 hectares in the suburban districts of Cam Xuyen and Ky Anh in Ha Tinh Province. The project was deemed the largest undertaking of its kind in the country.

At the time, the provincial government changed the entire zoned area for rubber, farm produce and production forests to the development of animal husbandry and grass-planting in the districts.

Further, hundreds of hectares of production forest, crop and rice land belonging to local residents was recalled to make room for the project.

Since April 2015, the results of production and business operations at the company have fallen short of expectations. Its cow farming project was ineffective, leading to an accumulated loss of over VND900 billion. The company could not afford to repay its loans to BIDV.

Police also found that Sang had been an active accomplice of the bank’s former chairman, Tran Bac Ha, 62, who was arrested last November. The duo had committed serious violations, causing severe damages for the lender.

In July 2017, the Inspection Commission of the Party Central Committee finalized the list of Sang’s violations.

Sang, a former member of the Standing Board of the Party Committee at BIDV, was held responsible for the violations and shortcomings of the board during the 2010-2015 tenure, including some loans, financial guarantees, investments and debts in violation of the rules.

He was held accountable for the proposal and appraisal of loans, worth VND4.7 trillion (some US$202 million), for 12 companies involved in a criminal case at Construction Bank.

The watchdog deemed his violations extremely serious, negatively affecting the prestige of the Party and BIDV and arousing public concern.

Born in 1961, Sang joined BIDV in 1983 and rose through the ranks. In 2013, he was appointed deputy general director of the bank and chairman of BIDV Securities JSC. He was removed from his high-ranking position last August amid a larger probe into criminal actions at the bank.

SGT