Vietnamese banker sentenced to death in fraud saga that exposed deeply rooted corruption in financial system
Vietnam denies the anti-corruption fight boils down to political infighting and says it is government policy to ‘deal with wrongdoing and corruption’
An ex-banker was sentenced to death on Friday for his role in a massive fraud case involving millions of dollars of illegal loans, in a scandal that reaches deep inside Vietnam’s corruption-riddled financial system.
A co-conspirator also received life in prison in a dramatic capping of a month-long trial involving 51 bankers and businessmen – part of an anti-corruption drive that critics say is also sweeping up political enemies of Vietnam’s communist leaders.
Former Ocean Bank general director Nguyen Xuan Son, who later became chairman of the powerful state oil firm PetroVietnam, was sentenced to death for embezzlement, abuse of power and economic mismanagement.
The bank’s ex-chairman Ha Van Tham, once one of Vietnam’s richest men, was jailed for life on the same charges, as well as violating lending rules. He was convicted of illegally approving a US$23 million loan in 2012.
Tham and Son’s behaviour is very serious, infringing on the management of state [assets] and causing public grievances
Also mentioned in the verdict was PetroVietnam’s acquisition of a US$35 million stake in the bank. It was later written off when the central bank bought Ocean Bank for nothing in 2015. Both men left the courthouse stone-faced after the verdict.