Mr. Dinh La Thang asked to 'take responsibility as the leader' of the 800 billion case
Defendant Dinh La Thang asked to "take responsibility" for PVN's loss of 800 billion VND, although he always affirmed that the policy and process of contributing capital to OceanBank were not wrong.
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| Mr. Dinh La Thang answers questions at the trial |
Responding to the questioning of the Hanoi People's Court on the afternoon of March 20 regarding the responsibility for the capital contribution policy of the PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (PVN) to OceanBank, Mr. Dinh La Thang - former Chairman of the Board of Directors of PVN - said he would accept responsibility as the leader.
Even though I don't know, I take responsibility!
Mr. Dinh La Thang affirmed this when talking about the responsibility for the third capital investment of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group in OceanBank.
Mr. Thang said the first and second capital contributions were completely legal and in accordance with the Government's direction.
However, in the third capital contribution (violating Article 55 of the Law on Credit Institutions), Mr. Thang said he was completely unaware of this capital contribution investment because he authorized Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thang.
"Although the defendant did not know, did not vote, the defendant respected Mr. Thang's opinion and did not listen to Mr. Thang's report. Regarding the matter yesterday when two witnesses confirmed that they had forwarded the report to the defendant, the defendant affirmed that he did not know, because if he had known, he would have stopped the capital contribution. There will be no third investment."
However, Mr. Thang also said that even though he did not know, the defendant accepted the responsibility of the leader on behalf of all of Nguyen Xuan Thang, Nguyen Xuan Son, Phan Dinh Duc...
"All agencies confirmed that OceanBank's investment was effective and legal in the first and second times. As for the third investment, the defendant did not know," Mr. Thang affirmed.
No one has any comments on the capital contribution.
Mr. Thang affirmed that when Hong Viet Bank was not established, a bank preparation committee with hundreds of people and invested facilities, headquarters, tables and chairs...
"We are facing a big challenge in finding a suitable bank. All requirements show that PVN can only buy shares at the prescribed price. To deal with the existence of Hong Viet Bank, we urgently decided."
Mr. Thang affirmed that Ocean Bank had just accepted all the requests made by PVN, then Mr. Thang reported to the Board of Directors for consideration and approval after hearing the preliminary report on OceanBank.
In response to the lawyer's question about whether state-owned corporations and groups at that time had to comply with the provisions of the law and the direction of the Government, Mr. Thang affirmed: "Both the defendant and the group had to comply with the provisions of the law and the direction of the Government. Because if there were any problems, the state agencies would have given their opinions. No state agencies had any opinions."
Regarding the things he has done after contributing capital to OceanBank, in addition to the dividends of 244 billion, Mr.
Thang also affirmed that investment decisions must be profitable and address existing shortcomings. PVN's capital contribution has helped OceanBank develop strongly.
"Thus, the contribution of the oil and gas group has helped raise the level of Ocean Bank," Mr. Thang affirmed.
After contributing capital, all information about Ocean Bank's operations was reported by the representative of PVN's capital at OceanBank and "this report shows that this bank is recognized as the best retail bank in the banking system", Mr. Thang declared.
Talking about this capital contribution, Mr. Ha Van Tham, former Chairman of the Board of Directors of OceanBank, said that "because we wanted PVN to contribute capital, we were too enthusiastic."
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| Mr. Dinh La Thang's violations while signing the capital contribution agreement to OceanBank with Ha Van Tham |
