Portrait of Eximbank 'beauty' who embezzled nearly 50 billion VND

(Baonghean.vn) - Nguyen Thi Lam, an employee of the Do Luong Transaction Office, Eximbank Vinh branch, has just graduated from college and has a good-looking appearance. Many of Lam's customers have fainted after their money disappeared.

» The trick of embezzling nearly 50 billion VND by a female employee of Eximbank

Sophisticated and easy money withdrawal tricks

On the morning of September 27, the Department of Investigation Police on Economic Management Order and Positions (PC15) - Nghe An Police held a meeting with a number of press agencies to announce information about the case of "Abuse of trust to appropriate property" at Eximbank Vinh branch.

Nguyen Thi Lam has a pretty face.

According to information from the investigation agency, Nguyen Thi Lam was born on July 17, 1987, residing in Yen Huong hamlet, Yen Son commune (Do Luong). After graduating from high school, Lam studied at Nghe An College of Economics (now Nghe An University of Economics). After graduating, Lam worked for a while as an accountant at the family business, then at the end of 2010, she went on probation at Eximbank Vinh branch.

In March 2011, Lam was hired as a cashier at the Do Luong Transaction Office, Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank), Vinh City Branch, with the task of collecting and disbursing cash, checking customers' loan applications, mobilizing capital, lending according to targets...

Young, having worked at Eximbank for more than 5 years, but recently, people have noticed that Lam has become unusually rich by driving expensive cars, building houses, buying a lot of land... Through the work of grasping the situation, using professional measures, the Economic Police Department of Nghe An Police found that Nguyen Thi Lam had signs of the crime of "Abuse of trust to appropriate property" according to Article 140 of the Penal Code, and project 916E was established.

On September 19, the Nghe An Provincial Police Investigation Agency issued a decision to prosecute the case. At this time, Nguyen Thi Lam was absent from the locality. Through persuasion, on September 21, Nguyen Thi Lam turned herself in and initially confessed her illegal acts.

On September 24, the Economic Police Department of Nghe An Police issued an emergency arrest warrant for Dang Dinh Hong (born 1973), residing in Trang Son commune (Do Luong) - former Director of Do Luong transaction office, Eximbank Vinh branch for the crime of "Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences" as prescribed in Article 285 of the Penal Code.

Nguyen Thi Lam at the investigation agency.

Regarding Lam's methods, Colonel Nguyen Xuan Thiem - Head of the Police Department of Investigation of Crimes on Management and Positions, Nghe An Police, said: Previously, to complete the target of mobilizing deposits, Lam enticed customers to deposit money by raising the deposit interest rate from 3.5 - 5.5% to 7-12%/year. Thanks to that, Lam invited a number of customers to deposit money directly to Lam at home; Lam also did the procedures and transferred the savings to the customers. The customer's deposit amount was fully transferred to the bank; Lam paid the additional interest to the customers relatively fully.

Since 2013, Lam began to have the intention of appropriating money and using fraudulent tricks to withdraw money from Eximbank. According to the provisions of Decision No. 356 dated September 8, 2014 of Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam on promulgating regulations on the use of deposits: "Customers who want to withdraw savings deposited at Eximbank must come directly to the Bank to directly sign documents and procedures; Directly present valid ID card and passport; Present the savings book that the bank has given them to hold".

To get the signatures of customers, Lam took advantage of his close relationships, tricked customers into signing the false statements, then handwrote the content requirements (how much money to withdraw or transfer) for the bank staff to directly type on the false statements that already had the customers' signatures and then submitted them to the controller for approval. In addition, in some false statements, Lam also forged the customers' signatures. With this trick, Lam directly withdrew 48 billion from the system, under the names of 6 customers. Of this amount, 14 billion came from documents signed by Dang Dinh Hong - former Director of Do Luong Transaction Office.

According to the investigation agency, since 2013, Lam has withdrawn money many times and each time it was "as easy as taking something from a pocket" and during that time, neither Eximbank nor the customer were aware. Dang Dinh Hong, after being arrested, confessed that he knew very well the principles of withdrawing money from the system, but out of respect, he signed the procedures to let Lam withdraw money freely.

Customers are not afraid of losing the money they have deposited.

At the meeting, Colonel Nguyen Xuan Thiem assessed: This is the largest ever illegal withdrawal of money from the system in Nghe An, a warning for laxity, lax management, and violations of principles in commercial banks. Currently, Nghe An Police are coordinating with the People's Procuracy of Nghe An province to clearly determine Nguyen Thi Lam's crime as "Abuse of property appropriation" or "Abuse of trust to appropriate property".

Colonel Nguyen Xuan Thiem - Head of the Police Department investigating crimes related to management and positions, Nghe An Police said that customers do not have to worry about losing the money they have deposited, the Bank must ensure the integrity of the customer's deposits.

Colonel Thiem added: Among the 6 customers whose names Lam took advantage of to withdraw money from the system, the one with the highest deposit was 34 billion VND, the least was 350 million VND. After learning that Nguyen Thi Lam withdrew money from her deposit account, the customers were very worried, some even "fainted".

However, from the viewpoint of the investigation agency, it is necessary to determine that the violated subject here is not the customer but Eximbank. If it is clearly determined that the violated subject here is the Bank, then the civil responsibility belongs to Nguyen Thi Lam, and the Bank must ensure the integrity of the customer's deposit, because the customer's deposit is protected by law and insured by the bank, the customer does not withdraw, does not directly go to the bank to withdraw money, does not authorize anyone, and still keeps the savings book, the money will not be lost.

In the case of Dang Dinh Hong, the former head of the Do Luong Transaction Office, the investigation agency has only determined that it was due to respect that led to the crime of "Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences" but has not discovered any signs of taking advantage to appropriate customers' deposits - that is, being an accomplice of Nguyen Thi Lam.

Colonel Nguyen Xuan Thiem also advised: Through this case, to avoid being exploited, customers depositing money in commercial banks should also regularly check accurate information on deposit interest rates, and not, for the sake of profit, make personal transactions to deposit money at higher interest rates. In addition, it is also necessary to regularly check their accounts, and if they detect any unusual transactions, immediately report them to the bank for timely handling./.

Minh Quan