Today the court sentenced 51 defendants in the OceanBank case.

After a month of trial, on the morning of September 29, the Hanoi People's Court will issue a first-instance verdict against former OceanBank chairman Ha Van Tham and 50 accomplices.

After 5 days of deliberation, as planned, on the morning of September 29, the Hanoi People's Court issued a verdict on the charges against 51 defendants in the OceanBank scandal. The first instance trial has just gone through a month of work with more than 750 people and legal entities included in the court's summons plan; over 50 lawyers participated in the proceedings.

According to the accusation, in November 2012, former Chairman of the Board of Directors of OceanBank Ha Van Tham directed Nguyen Van Hoan (former Deputy General Director) to lend Pham Cong Danh (Chairman of Thien Thanh Group) 500 billion VND through Trung Dung Company while there was no collateral, the customer used the capital for the wrong purpose. This act was accused of violating the State Bank's regulations on lending regulations, causing OceanBank to lose more than 500 billion VND (both principal and interest).

From 2010 to 2014, implementing Mr. Tham's policy, this bank spent more than 1,500 billion VND to pay interest outside the contract to hundreds of individuals and organizations that deposited money. Of this amount, former general director Nguyen Xuan Son was accused of appropriating more than 246 billion VND; embezzling more than 49 billion VND; and abusing his position and power to appropriate 197 billion.

Defendant Ha Van Tham

The former CEO of OceanBank was also accused of abusing his position to embezzle 69 billion VND from BSC - the backdoor company of Ha Van Tham. BSC was said to have no business activities but was opened to use its legal status to sign service contracts with OceanBank's customers to illegally collect fees. The main purpose was to collect more money to pay Nguyen Xuan Son to take care of customers.

The Supreme People's Procuracy's indictment stated that the defendants' actions "disrupted and disrupted the security of the monetary market", creating conditions for corruption to develop.

The prosecution agency assessed that former OceanBank chairman Ha Van Tham had "personal motives" when directing the entire system to pay interest exceeding the ceiling. According to the financial report, as of December 31, 2016, OceanBank's accumulated loss was more than VND15,000 billion.

During the month-long trial (from August 28), the panel of judges spent most of their time clarifying how Mr. Tham and more than 40 subordinates spent the 1,500 billion VND in extra interest? Was the 1,500 billion VND a loss for OceanBank? Did Nguyen Xuan Son embezzle? Was the 49 billion VND the money of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN)? Who must pay OceanBank the 500 billion VND debt that Trung Dung Company borrowed?... However, after many days of fierce litigation, these issues have not yet been resolved.

When testifying in court, former chairman Ha Van Tham repeatedly denied the view that spending 1,500 billion VND caused damage to the bank. Mr. Tham insisted: “That is not damage. The defendant is a major shareholder of OceanBank, there is no reason to cause damage to himself.”

He said that when he decided to pay interest exceeding the ceiling, he knew it was an administrative violation and decided to lose his position as chairman to save the bank, but he did not expect to be criminally prosecuted. "If I had known it was a criminal violation, I would never have traded it," the former chairman of OceanBank said during a debate.

More than 40 of Mr. Tham's subordinates simultaneously stated that paying interest outside of the customer care contract brought about 'effectiveness' and not 'consequences' as alleged. Former chief accountant Nguyen Thi Nga said that in the context of banking and finance at that time, OceanBank had to do so to save itself.

"Seeing customers rushing to withdraw money as if they were pouring their guts out, bank leaders or branch leaders are forced to do the same. But while they are doing so, where are the authorities? Why create a "trap" to unintentionally push bank officials into trouble?", Ms. Nga explained.

Two new charges brought to trial in this trial are Abuse of power and position to appropriate property and Embezzlement of property, which also created a fierce 'war of words' between the parties involved in the proceedings. Especially for the embezzlement of 49 billion VND, Mr. Son was accused of holding the main responsibility, while Mr. Tham was considered an active accomplice.

The prosecutor said that there was enough evidence to determine that the 49 billion VND was PVN's money when it was invested in OceanBank, and also state money, so Mr. Son committed embezzlement. Mr. Son said he was 'shocked' when he received this accusation. Mr. Tham said "Mr. Son did not embezzle, nor could he have taken OceanBank's money". Mr. Tham's defense lawyer argued that "only a crazy person would help others embezzle their money".

The People's Procuracy proposed a combined death penalty for former General Director Son for three crimes: Embezzlement of property, Abuse of power and position to appropriate property, and Intentionally violating state regulations on economic management causing serious consequences.

In addition to the crimes of Mr. Son, Mr. Tham was prosecuted for a fourth crime of violating regulations on lending in the operations of credit institutions and was proposed by the People's Procuracy for a life sentence.

The People's Procuracy proposed sentences ranging from 18 months' suspended imprisonment to 18 years' imprisonment for 46 subordinates of Ha Van Tham and a number of others for the crimes of: Violating regulations on lending in the operations of credit institutions, Abusing positions and powers to appropriate property, and Intentionally violating state regulations on management causing serious consequences.

According to VNE