Phan Văn Anh Vũ (blue shirt), former chairman of Đà Nẵng-based Bắc Nam 79 Construction Joint-Stock Co, at the first-instance trial on losses incurred by DAB, held last year. — VNA/VNS Photo Thành Chung

HCM CITY The HCM City People’s Court yesterday postponed an appeals trial that had been proposed by the HCM City People’s Procuracy to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of defendants and others connected to a case involving losses incurred by Đông Á Bank (DAB).

The court postponed the trial because of the absence of many defendants.

Trần Phương Bình and other defendants were prosecuted last year by the Supreme People’s Procuracy on charges of “abusing power to appropriate assets”, “intentionally violating regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences” and showing “lack of responsibility, causing serious consequences”.

Last November, the HCM City People’s Court sentenced Trần Phương Bình, former general director and vice chairman of Đông Á Bank’s (DAB) management board, to life in jail on the charges of “abusing power to appropriate assets”, and to 20 years in prison for “intentionally violating regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences”.

Phan Văn Anh Vũ (also known as Vũ Nhôm), former chairman of the Đà Nẵng-based Bắc Nam 79 Construction Joint-Stock Company, was sentenced to 17 years in jail for “abusing power to appropriate assets”. 

Nguyễn Thị Kim Xuyến, former deputy general director of DAB, was sentenced to 20 years in jail for “abusing power to appropriate assets” and to 18 years in jail for “intentionally violating regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences”. On the two charges, Xuyến’s total prison sentence will be 30 years. 

Another 23 defendants received sentences ranging from two years to 17 years, including probation for some.

After the end of the first-instance trial, the defendants appealed and asked for relief.

However, most defendants were absent at the appeals trial that opened yesterday in HCM City.

The appeals trial date will be announced later, according to the HCM City People’s Court. 

Investigators discovered that Bình, who was also chairman of DAB’s credit council, owned 10.25 per cent of the bank’s charter capital, and his family members held a further 7.7 per cent.

He was also in charge of the bank’s budget and investment division at the time, they said.

According to the indictment, Bình directed all activities of funding and investment at DAB and abused his power to appropriate property, causing a loss of VNĐ3.6 trillion (US$155.1 million).

The indictment said that DAB’s accumulated losses totalled VNĐ31 trillion, while equity capital was a negative VNĐ25.5 trillion.

Total assets at the time of the violations were only VNĐ47 trillion. Bình’s violations were responsible for the losses, the indictment said.

Bình was charged with “abusing power to appropriate property” for directing DAB officers to spend VNĐ1.16 trillion to acquire the bank’s shares.

He also changed VNĐ294 billion to $13.9 million without proper documentation to later use for personal purposes, and used an additional VNĐ309 billion for personal purposes.

Bình was also charged with “intentionally violating regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences” for his directions to spend VNĐ467 billion on interest payments, VNĐ85 billion on loan settlements, and VNĐ49 billion for personal purposes.

He also illegally directed spending in gold and foreign currency, causing a loss of VNĐ1.6 trillion.

The investigators concluded that Bình caused a loss of VNĐ200 billion to DAB while raising the bank’s charter capital from VNĐ5 trillion to VNĐ6 trillion. VNS