Tram Be and the 'deal' of lending 1,700 billion VND to Pham Cong Danh

Having known Tram Be before, when Pham Cong Danh encountered difficulties, he sought Tram Be as a savior. Although he was not qualified to borrow a large amount of money, Tram Be "broke the rules" to quickly lend Pham Cong Danh a sum of 1,700 billion VND.

The Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency has completed the conclusion of the supplementary investigation into the case of "Intentionally violating State regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences" occurring at the Construction Bank (VNCB), Sacombank; Tien Phong; BIDV; and at the same time transferred the file to the Supreme People's Procuracy to propose additional prosecution of the accused Tram Be (born in 1959), former Permanent Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chairman of the Board of Credit of Sacombank, and 21 related defendants.

Tram Be was once known as a famous figure in the banking and finance industry.

According to additional investigation results, while needing a large sum of money up to 2,000 billion VND, at BIDV, Pham Cong Danh sought out Tram Be because the two had a relationship since Tram Be was at Phuong Nam Commercial Joint Stock Bank.

Around mid-April 2013, Pham Cong Danh went to Sacombank to meet Tram Be and asked to borrow about 2,000 billion VND. Tram Be agreed to lend Danh but required collateral such as real estate or deposits.

After that, Tram Be took Pham Cong Danh to meet Phan Huy Khang, General Director of Sacombank. At Khang's office, all three famous figures in the banking and finance industry came to an agreement that Sacombank would lend Pham Cong Danh from 1,300 billion VND to a maximum of 1,800 billion VND, but with collateral.

Pham Cong Danh in court.

Because borrowing such a large amount of money must be submitted to the Board of Directors for decision, it will take time and it may be difficult to borrow because when submitted to the Board of Directors, there will be many opposing opinions.

Foreseeing such difficulties, Tram Be assigned Phan Huy Khang to organize the loan to Danh. The discussion was only attended by Tram Be, Pham Cong Danh and Phan Huy Khang.

After receiving approval from Tram Be and Phan Huy Khang, on April 19, 2013, Pham Cong Danh directed his subordinates to prepare the guarantee funds, create a business plan, and loan documents, as required by Sacombank.

Pham Cong Danh's subordinates completed 6 sets of legal documents for 6 companies, along with a loan distribution sheet for these 6 companies. And Tram Be approved the loans even though the documents were incomplete.

Phan Huy Khang - a powerful assistant in the case of Tram Be lending Pham Cong Danh 1,700 billion VND.

Overdue loans, 6 companies could not pay their debts, Sacombank collected the principal and interest from VNCB's deposits at Sacombank, causing losses to VNCB of more than 1,800 billion VND.

According to the results of the additional investigation, Mr. Tram Be's testimony above is consistent with Pham Cong Danh's testimony. The investigation agency determined that there is sufficient basis to prosecute the defendants Tram Be and Phan Huy Khang for the crime of "Intentionally violating the State's regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences" as accomplices to Pham Cong Danh.