Defendant Phan Văn Anh Vũ (also known as Vũ Nhôm), 42, former chairman of the Đà Nẵng-based Bắc Nam 79 Construction Joint Stock Company, at the appeals trial on Monday. — VNA/ VNS Photo Thành Chung

HCM CITY — An appeals court in HCM City yesterday said there was sufficient evidence to uphold the previous sentence for Phan Văn Anh Vũ (also known as Vũ Nhôm), the former chairman of Bắc Nam 79 Construction Joint-Stock Company in Đà Nẵng.

Vũ was charged with causing a loss of VNĐ200 billion at Đông Á Bank (DAB) in HCM City.

The court said that an investigation about the additional US$13 million that Vũ appropriated from the bank should be continued.

The case involved wrongdoings at DAB, which incurred losses of more than VNĐ3.6 trillion ($154 million). 

Vũ was previously sentenced to 17 years in prison for “abusing position and power to appropriate assets” and an eight-year sentence for “deliberately disclosing state secrets” in another case. 

He was also ordered to pay compensation of VNĐ200 billion to DAB.

The court yesterday also told the investigation agency to continue to gather evidence about the $13.4 million that Vũ received from DAB via Trần Phương Bình, the former general director and vice chairman of DAB’s management board.

At the end of last year, a court sentenced Bình to life in prison for “abusing power to appropriate assets”. He also received a sentence of 20 years for “intentionally violating regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences”.

DAB’s former deputy general director, Nguyễn Thị Kim Xuyến, who was an accomplice of Bình’s, caused losses of nearly VNĐ1.1 trillion and appropriated VNĐ40 billion for personal use, the court said.

Xuyến was sentenced to 30 years in prison on charges of “abusing power to appropriate assets” and “intentionally violating regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences”. 

Another 23 defendants received sentences ranging from two years of probation to 16 years in prison.

The defendants were ordered to pay compensation to DAB. 

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 must be responsible for the losses, the indictment said. — VNS