The High-Level People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City on August 15 pronounced sentences to former leaders of Navibank, known as National Citizen Bank, on the charge of “intentionally violating State regulations on economic mismanagement, causing serious consequences.” 

At the court

The jury rejected appeals of seven defendants, upholding 13-year imprisonment sentence to Le Quang Tri, former Navibank General Director; 12-year jail sentence to former Deputy General Directors Nguyen Giang Nam, Cao Kim Son Cuong and Nguyen Hung Son; 11-year jail penalty to former chief of the capital division Doan Dang Luat and former chief of the accounting division Huynh Vinh Phat, and 10-year prison sentence to former chief of the division for relations with corporate clients Tran Thanh Binh. 

The jury agreed to reduce jail sentence from seven years to six years for Pham Thi Thu Hien, former chief of the legal division; Nguyen Ngoc Oanh, former chief of the risk management division; and Dinh Thi Doan Trang, former chief of the client service division. 

According to the indictment of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, from November 19, 2010 to May 27, 2011, the credit council of Navibank, which comprised all the 10 defendants, signed a document giving credit of 1,543 billion VND (67.4 million USD) to 14 employees who later deposited the money at the Nha Be branch of Vietinbank to gain the extra interest that was not shown in contracts.

The extra interest that Huynh Thi Huyen Nhu, former deputy chief of the risk management department of the HCM City branch of VietinBank, paid was more than 24 billion VND (over 1 million USD), of which over 15 billion VND was transferred to the account of Huynh Vinh Phat and over 9 billion VND in cash given to Doan Dang Luat.

Nhu took advantage of the defendants’ acts to appropriate 200 billion VND (8.7 million USD) of Navibank, according to the indictment.

At the March 12 trial, the procuracy suggested the judge panel take back 24 billion VND (1 million USD), which, they said, should be added to the State coffer. 

According to the procuracy, the defendants’ acts have violated State regulations on economic management, harmed the prestige of State management agencies in the banking sector and partially affected the country’s financial and monetary during 2010-2011.-VNA