HCM CITY — Phạm Công Danh told the court yesterday that he had transferred VNĐ600 billion (US$27 million) to Hứa Thị Phấn, a former high-level advisor of Trust Bank, and had used VNĐ500 billion ($22.7 million) to increase registered capital at VNCB.

He said that VNĐ400 billion ($18 million) was spent covering a higher interest rate than normal for certain individuals at Tân Hiệp Phát Group, including chairman Trần Quí Thanh and his daughter Trần Ngọc Bích, after he received a VNĐ1.7 trillion ($77 million) loan from TPBank.

According to an indictment issued by the Supreme People’s Procuracy, Phan Thành Mai, ex-general director of VNCB, and Nguyễn Việt Hà, ex-general director of Lộc Việt Fund Management Company, agreed that Việt Hà could use Danh’s 11 companies as collateral to borrow money from TPBank and use the money to buy shares in the Thiên Thanh Group and Trung Dung company.

VNCB guaranteed the loan with a deposit in TPBank. After the 11 companies were not able to prove the proper usage of the loan, TPBank took back VNCB’s deposit before the loan’s due date for payments.

Mai also said that he did not know what Phạm Công Danh did with the money from TPBank.

Trầm Bê, Sacombank’s deputy chairman, has been charged with approving loans worth VNĐ1.8 trillion ($81 million) for Danh’s companies. Bê has not been in good health since the beginning of the trial.

Bê told the court he had known Danh for five years before giving the loans and had instructed Phan Huy Khang, then general director of Sacombank, to check the application and documents.

“I considered Danh a representative of a company. The council should not consider my private relationship with him as a factor in the violation of State regulations on economic management," he said.

According to an indictment issued by the Supreme People’s Procuracy, on April 19, 2013, Phan Huy Khang met Phạm Công Danh and Phan Thành Mai, ex-general director of VNCB; Mai Hữu Khương, ex-member of VNCB’s Board of Directors; and Nguyễn Quốc Viễn, ex-head of the control board.

Khang instructed Phan Đình Tuệ, Sacombank’s ex-deputy general director, to set up a fake financial file about the companies which were borrowing money. No checks were made after the loans were given.  

Six days later, Trầm Bê quickly approved the loan, and one day later, money was sent to six of Danh’s companies.

Danh used the money to pay debts of his companies and sent VNĐ166 billion ($7.5 million) to his personal account.

A year later, the six companies could not pay the loan back, and Sacombank took the money back from VNCB.

As a result, VNCB lost more than VNĐ1.8 trillion.

The corruption case involves the largest amount of money of any previous corruption case in the country.

The court trial is scheduled to run until February 7. — VNS