Former Director of Eximbank Do Luong transaction office requests suspended sentence

"Bank beauty" proposed to be sentenced to life in prison

(Baonghean.vn) - The representative of the People's Procuracy of Nghe An province requested the first instance court to sentence Nguyen Thi Lam to life in prison for fraud and property appropriation. At the same time, requested that defendant Lam be ordered to compensate Eximbank for the amount of money Lam had appropriated and the loss Lam had caused.

Many loopholes in the fraud scheme of the "beautiful" banker were exposed.

(Baonghean.vn) - On the first day of the trial of Nguyen Thi Lam - former officer of Eximbank Do Luong, the statements of the defendant and related people clearly showed many loopholes of this bank in controlling transactions with customers.

On the morning of July 6, the first-instance criminal trial of defendant Nguyen Thi Lam (born 1987), former employee of the Do Luong transaction office, Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank) branch in Vinh City and 15 other defendants in the case of "embezzling" more than 50 billion VND, is continuing the debate.

Overview of the trial on the morning of July 6. Photo: Khanh An

Previously, in addition to defendant Lam being proposed to be sentenced to life in prison for the crime of Fraudulent appropriation of property, defendant Hong was proposed to be given the heaviest sentence (36 to 39 months in prison) among the 15 defendants prosecuted for the crime of Intentionally violating State regulations on economic management causing serious consequences.

This morning, the defendants took turns defending themselves or authorizing their lawyers to defend them. The bank and its lawyers also presented their defense points of view.

Defendant Dang Dinh Hong - former Director of Do Luong Transaction Office - Eximbank branch in Vinh City said that he and 14 bank employees had no motive, no profit, and did not gain anything in the case of Nguyen Thi Lam appropriating 50 billion VND.

Defendant Hong defended himself and did not deny his guilt and said: “I myself had no intention or motive to commit the crime, and did not gain anything from this case, either in my perception, in my thoughts or in my actual actions. The ultimate goal was only to bring business efficiency and profit to Eximbank. In my actions, I myself was not aware that my actions were dangerous to society and caused consequences for customers.”

Defendant Hong also spoke about the difficult situation of Eximbank Vinh branch when Hong was the branch director, such as insufficient staff at Do Luong transaction office, low profits, pressure to mobilize capital...

Defendant Dang Dinh Hong asked for a suspended sentence. Photo: Khanh An

Defendant Hong said: “At that time, we were actually praised by our superiors for our capital growth and outstanding debt growth. I myself have been the branch director for only three years, but being caught up in the legal trouble today is very painful. I and 15 employees who are defendants today did not gain a single penny. I hope the panel of judges will consider giving me a suspended sentence.”

The lawyer of the defendant Hong also stated that the defendant Hong himself has no criminal record, has a clear residence and background, his family has contributed to the revolution, he does not seek personal gain, the defendant Lam's deception was too sophisticated to detect... The lawyer requested the first instance panel of judges to give the defendant Hong a suspended sentence.

At the debate, two other female defendants pleaded not guilty and requested to handle the responsibility of the customers for Lam to embezzle money.

The defense attorney for the eight defendants, bank employees and prosecutors, who were prosecuted and recommended to be imprisoned for intentionally violating State regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences, argued that the actions of the prosecutors and employees did not constitute a crime. The attorney requested that the eight tellers, employees and cashiers involved in this case be exempted from criminal liability.

The trial is now continuing its debate.