The Supreme People’s Procuracy in HCMC on December 25 told the Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank) to pay back more than VND1 trillion (US$46.7 million) deposited at the bank by five corporates but expropriated by Huynh Thi Huyen Nhu, former deputy chief of the risk management department of the lender.

Huynh Thi Huyen Nhu.

According to the indictment, Nhu embezzled deposits worth VND200 billion (US$9.3 million) of Hung Yen Trading and Investment Joint Stock Company, VND210 billion (US$9.8 million) of SaigonBank Berjaya Securities Joint Stock Company, VND170 billion (US$7.9 million) of An Loc Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company.

She also expropriated VND125 billion (US$5.8 million) from Global Insurance Corporation and VND380 billion (US$17.7 million) from Orient Securities Corporation by asking those companies to open payment accounts at the HCMC branch of VietinBank with promises of paying high interest rates, and then forging documents and signatures of those firms’ leaders to withdraw the deposits.

After questioning related parties at the appeals hearing and examining their responses, the Supreme People’s Procuracy said the documents to open payment accounts of the five companies at VietinBank are real, those accounts are legitimate, and the deposits are under the management of the bank.

Therefore, the bank must take responsibility when the money is lost, said the prosecution. In fact, Nhu had only expropriated money of VietinBank’s customers after they had deposited it at the bank. The bank must pay due to its poor management.

According to the prosecution, VietinBank is the true civil plaintiff of the case, so it has the right to request Nhu to return the money she had illegally taken away.

Nhu was also charged with corruption as she had embezzled money from VietinBank when she was head of the bank’s Dien Bien Phu transaction office and Vietinbank is 51% owned by the State.

Regarding the deposits Nhu had swindled from Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB) and  Nam Viet Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Navibank), the prosecution said as lenders, ACB and Navibank had violated regulations and assigned their staff place deposits at another bank to enjoy higher interest rates. Therefore, the two banks should be held responsible for what they had done.

Nhu cheated credit officers of ACB and Navibank, and VietinBank was not involved, the prosecution said.

However, ACB’s defense attorney, Luu Van Tam, told the court that ACB had never asked Nhu to repay VND718 billion it deposited at VietinBank as it had reiterated its stance that it was a plaintiff in the case. Therefore, it is VietinBank should be responsible for this amount, he said.