State Bank asks court to reduce sentence for former deputy governor
Mr. Dang Thanh Binh was assessed as responsible and made efforts to carry out the task of restructuring the bank but was outwitted by Pham Cong Danh.
On December 6, the appeal trial of Mr. Dang Thanh Binh (former Deputy Governor of the State Bank) and 4 defendants, former members of the State Bank's Supervisory Team (based at the Construction Bank - VNCB) for the crime ofLack of responsibility causes serious consequencesend of debate
Expressing his opinion earlier, the representative of the High-Level Procuracy in Ho Chi Minh City said that, following the direction of the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam on restructuring TrustBank (the predecessor of VNCB), Mr. Binh and his accomplices must be responsible for verifying the financial capacity of the new investment group of Mr. Pham Cong Danh (53 years old, former Chairman of VNCB) to ensure the source of investment capital for the bank. However, these people were irresponsible, creating conditions for Mr. Danh to cause a loss of more than 15,000 billion VND of VNCB.
The Procuracy determined that Mr. Binh was the leader, had the highest authority, and his violations were the main reason for the failure of the restructuring plan. "The defendant's admission of shortcomings is a new detail, but the first instance sentence of 3 years in prison was the lightest according to the penalty framework. Therefore, there is no basis to reduce the sentence or give the defendant a suspended sentence," said the representative of the Procuracy.
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The representative of the People's Procuracy requested the court to reject all appeals of Mr. Binh and his accomplices. Photo:Ky Hoa. |
This view of the Institute is also applied to the four defendants Ha Tan Phuoc (55 years old, Deputy Director of the State Bank of Vietnam, Long An Branch), Le Van Thanh (54 years old, former Chief Inspector of the State Bank of Vietnam, Long An Province), Pham The Tuan (62 years old, former Deputy Director of Vietcombank, Ho Chi Minh City Branch), Ngo Van Thanh (41 years old, former Deputy Head of the Inspection and Compliance Supervision Department, Vietcombank Long An).
From there, the representative of the People's Procuracy requested the People's Court to maintain the original first instance verdict against Mr. Binh and his accomplices.
State Bank representative: 'Mr. Binh is trying to restructure VNCB'
Participating in the debate, Mr. Binh's defense lawyer said that important issues of the banking industry must be unanimous, the Governor or Deputy Governor cannot decide on their own. Accordingly, allowing the Thien Thanh investor group (represented by Mr. Danh) to buy shares of the Phu My group was discussed and agreed upon by the SBV collective.
Affirming that Mr. Binh did not go against the Prime Minister's instructions, the lawyer said that the inspection agencies had checked the financial capacity of the investor with the approval of the former deputy governor. After the Thien Thanh shareholder group contributed capital and bought back shares from the Phu My group, the inspection agency checked whether the cash flow was borrowed or self-generated. "This is the realization of Mr. Binh's instructions," the lawyer emphasized.
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Mr. Binh (right) and the defendants were former members of the Supervisory Team at VNCB. Photo:Ky Hoa. |
Present at the court, the representative of the State Bank said that at that time, the restructuring of VNCB could not be delayed, and only the Thien Thanh investor group asked to participate. The State Bank has always monitored to handle situations arising during the process of building and implementing the restructuring plan.
"Mr. Binh has made efforts to study the arising issues, comply with the law, and find directions for restructuring. The members of the supervisory team have a heavy and complicated task. The State Bank recognizes that the supervisory team are responsible officials, and the results of restructuring the banking system show the efforts of Mr. Binh and the supervisory team," the State Bank representative stated and asked the court to reduce the responsibility of the defendants.
Former deputy governor asks for lenient sentence for colleague
Having the last word, Mr. Binh's voice was slow: "The content of my appeal and the important issues in the first instance judgment have been fully presented and clarified. This is my wish when filing the appeal. I accept my lack of responsibility in the restructuring, and I ask the panel of judges to consider giving me a suspended sentence."
He said that, facing difficulties and limitations in the process of comprehensively restructuring the banking system (not just the 6 weak units), and facing a series of unprecedented violations, he tried his best to complete the task.
The former deputy governor of the State Bank of Vietnam also asked the court to consider reducing the sentences of the defendants in the Supervisory Team. "I would like to thank the Supervisory Team, all colleagues in the banking industry, leaders of the State Bank of Vietnam and the lawyers for their efforts to understand issues that are not related to their expertise," said Mr. Binh.
Also expressing their thanks to the State Bank, the four defendants asked the panel of judges to acknowledge their contributions, family circumstances, and active cooperation with the investigation agency... and consider granting them suspended sentences.
The court announced the verdict on December 10.
