Portrait of the 'beauty queen' at Eximbank who embezzled nearly 50 billion VND.

(Baonghean.vn) - Nguyen Thi Lam, an employee at the Do Luong Transaction Office of Eximbank's Vinh branch, is a recent college graduate with a pleasant appearance. Many of Lam's customers fainted after their money disappeared without a trace.

» The scheme by a female Eximbank employee to embezzle nearly 50 billion VND

Sophisticated and easy money withdrawal methods.

On the morning of September 27th, the Criminal Investigation Department for Economic and Official Crimes (PC15) of the Nghe An Provincial Police held a meeting with several media outlets to announce information about the "Abuse of Trust to Appropriate Property" case at Eximbank's Vinh branch.

Nguyen Thi Lam has a pleasant face.

According to information from the investigating agency, Nguyen Thi Lam was born on July 17, 1987, and resides in Yen Huong hamlet, Yen Son commune (Do Luong district). After graduating from high school, Lam studied at Nghe An College of Economics (now Nghe An University of Economics). After graduation, Lam worked as an accountant at her family's business for a period of time, and then at the end of 2010, she started a probationary period at Eximbank's Vinh branch.

In March 2011, Lam was hired as a cashier at the Do Luong Transaction Office of the Vietnam Export Import Commercial Bank (Eximbank) branch in Vinh City, with responsibilities including handling cash receipts and disbursements, checking customer loan applications, mobilizing capital, and lending according to targets.

Despite being young and having worked at Eximbank for just over 5 years, Lam recently appeared unusually wealthy, driving expensive cars, building houses, and buying a lot of land. Through intelligence gathering and investigative methods, the Economic Police Department of Nghe An Province found that Nguyen Thi Lam showed signs of committing the crime of "Abuse of trust to appropriate property" under Article 140 of the Penal Code, and Special Case 916E was established.

On September 19th, the Investigation Police Department of Nghe An province issued a decision to initiate criminal proceedings. At that time, the suspect Nguyen Thi Lam was absent from the locality. Through persuasion efforts, on September 21st, Nguyen Thi Lam surrendered and initially confessed to her illegal activities.

On September 24th, the Economic Police Department of Nghe An Provincial Police issued an urgent arrest warrant for Dang Dinh Hong (born in 1973), residing in Trang Son commune (Do Luong district) – former Director of the Do Luong transaction office, Eximbank Vinh branch, on charges of "Negligence causing serious consequences" as stipulated in Article 285 of the Penal Code.

Nguyen Thi Lam at the investigative agency.

Regarding Lam's tactics, Colonel Nguyen Xuan Thiem, Head of the Criminal Investigation Department for Management and Official Misconduct, Nghe An Provincial Police, stated: Previously, to meet her deposit mobilization targets, Lam enticed customers to deposit money by artificially raising deposit interest rates from 3.5-5.5% to 7-12% per year. Thanks to this, Lam managed to persuade several customers to deposit money directly with her at her home; she then handled the procedures and transferred the savings accounts to the customers. The customers' deposits were fully transferred to the bank; Lam paid the additional interest to the customers in relatively full.

From 2013, Lam began to harbor the intention of embezzling money and using fraudulent methods to withdraw funds from Eximbank. According to Decision No. 356 dated September 8, 2014, of the Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank on the issuance of regulations on the use of deposits: “Customers wishing to withdraw savings deposited at Eximbank must personally go to the bank to sign the necessary documents and procedures; personally present their valid ID card and passport; and present the savings passbook that the bank has entrusted to them.”

To obtain customer signatures, Lam exploited her personal connections, tricking customers into signing blank forms. She then handwritten requests specifying the amount to be withdrawn or transferred, which bank employees directly typed onto the signed blank forms before submitting them to the supervisor for approval. Furthermore, Lam forged customer signatures on some of these blank forms. Using this method, Lam directly withdrew 48 billion VND from the system, under the names of six customers. Of this amount, 14 billion VND was obtained through documents signed by Dang Dinh Hong, the former Director of the Do Luong branch.

According to investigators, since 2013, Lam had withdrawn money multiple times, each time "as easily as taking candy from a baby," and throughout that time, neither Eximbank nor the customers were aware of it. After his arrest, Dang Dinh Hong confessed that he was well aware of the rules for withdrawing money from the system, but out of deference, he signed the necessary documents to allow Lam to withdraw money freely.

Customers don't have to worry about losing the money they've deposited.

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

Colonel Nguyen Xuan Thiem, Head of the Criminal Investigation Department for Management and Official Misconduct, Nghe An Provincial Police, stated that customers should not fear losing their deposited money, as the bank must ensure the integrity of the customers' deposited funds.

Colonel Thiem added: Among the six customers whose names Lam used to withdraw money from the system, the one with the largest deposit was 34 billion VND, and the one with the smallest was 350 million VND. After learning that Nguyen Thi Lam had withdrawn money from their deposit accounts, the customers were very worried, and some even fainted.

However, according to the investigating agency, it is necessary to determine that the victim in this case is not the customer but Eximbank. If the victim is clearly identified as the bank, then civil liability belongs to Nguyen Thi Lam, while 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. As long as the customer does not withdraw the money, does not go to the bank to withdraw it directly, does not authorize anyone else, and still holds the savings passbook, the money will not be lost.

In the case of Dang Dinh Hong, who was formerly the head of the Do Luong branch, the investigating agency has only determined that the charge of "Negligence causing serious consequences" stemmed from favoritism, and has not yet found any evidence of complicity in misappropriating customer deposits – meaning he was an accomplice of Nguyen Thi Lam.

Colonel Nguyen Xuan Thiem also advised: Through this case, to avoid being exploited, customers depositing money with commercial banks should regularly check accurate information about deposit interest rates, and not be tempted by personal transactions to deposit money at higher interest rates. In addition, they should regularly check their accounts and report any unusual transactions to the bank immediately for timely action.

Minh Quan