Summoning Mr. Tran Bac Ha to the trial of Pham Cong Danh - Tram Be

On July 24, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court will bring defendants Pham Cong Danh (former Chairman of the Board of Directors of VNCB, Chairman of the Board of Members and General Director of Thien Thanh Group), Tram Be (former Permanent Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chairman of the Board of Credit of Sacombank) and 44 accomplices to trial for the crime of intentionally violating State regulations on economic management causing serious consequences.

At the first instance trial in January, defendant Tram Be said he did not accept the prosecution for being an accomplice to Pham Cong Danh. Photo: Tung Tin.

Previously, on the morning of February 7, the People's Court announced to return the case file and conduct further investigation because it believed that there were still some issues that needed to be investigated and clarified.

After reinvestigation, the prosecution agency did not discover any new crimes or new details, so the People's Procuracy maintained the same prosecution opinion as the previous indictment.

Regarding the case, the court also sent a letter summoning representatives of 7 banks and 8 members of the State Bank's Judicial Appraisal Team to the trial.

Nearly 200 people attended the trial as people with related rights and obligations. Among them were tycoons such as Tran Bac Ha (former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development - BIDV), Vu Bach Yen (Chairman of the Board of Directors of CB), Tran Quy Thanh (Tan Hiep Phat Beverage Group), Hua Thi Phan (former Chairman of Dai Tin Joint Stock Commercial Bank - TrustBank),...

At the recent trial of the Pham Cong Danh case, the panel of judges summoned Mr. Tran Bac Ha several times. However, on the morning of January 15, the representative submitted documents proving that the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of BIDV Bank was receiving medical treatment in Singapore.

The Ministry of Public Security determined that former BIDV Chairman Tran Bac Ha signed 12 reports summarizing the opinions of BIDV Risk Management Subcommittee members when they agreed to the policy of lending capital to 12 "ghost" companies of Pham Cong Danh with a maximum amount of VND 4,700 billion and assigned 4 branches to carry out the lending.

Although there were violations, the State Bank's appraisal results determined that the damage did not occur at BIDV. Therefore, the individuals involved at BIDV did not commit a crime. The investigation results did not provide sufficient grounds to determine the role of Pham Cong Danh as an accomplice because there were no documents, evidence, or statements that these related subjects knew that the companies borrowing capital from BIDV were established by Pham Cong Danh.

During the trial, defendants Tram Be and Phan Huy Khang (former General Director of Sacombank) said that it was incorrect to have lent money to Pham Cong Danh from 3 banks, Sacombank, BIDV, and TPBank, but only the defendants were prosecuted.

Tram Be admitted that he met Pham Cong Danh to discuss the loan, but this was in accordance with bank regulations and state regulations on large loans. There were professional errors in the lending process, but Tram Be and Phan Huy Khang affirmed that they did not know Pham Cong Danh's real purpose in introducing companies to borrow money. Defendant Tram Be said he did not accept the prosecution of the People's Procuracy.

Regarding this issue, after additional investigation, the Supreme People's Procuracy believes that the leaders of TPBank who have been prosecuted in this case are Mr. Dinh Viet Cuong (former Director of Corporate Customers - KHDN) and Ms. Dang Thi Bich Thuy (former Deputy Director of KHDN TPBank).

Regarding BIDV, the bank's leadership committed violations but there was not enough evidence to convict Mr. Pham Cong Danh as an accomplice, so the People's Procuracy requested the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court to consider further during the trial.

Regarding the responsibility of Tram Be as well as other defendants, the Supreme People's Procuracy believes that the defendants intentionally ignored the mandatory regulations in the lending process according to the regulations of the State Bank. This action assisted Mr. Pham Cong Danh in committing a series of crimes, obtaining money to use for illegal purposes. Therefore, the prosecution of these defendants is well-founded.

Regarding the amount of damages in the case, the Supreme People's Procuracy maintains its position of continuing to request the Panel of Judges to declare the recovery of 6,126 billion from the 3 banks Sacombank, TPBank, BIDV to return to CB. At the same time, the defendant Pham Cong Danh and Thien Thanh Group are required to be responsible for compensating the 6,126 billion to the 3 banks.

Pham Cong Danh received the transfer of Dai Tin Bank from Ms. Hua Thi Phan. This bank was operating at a loss, so the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) later placed Dai Tin (later VNCB) under special control.

Pham Cong Danh received the transfer of Dai Tin Bank from Ms. Hua Thi Phan. This bank was operating at a loss, so the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) later placed Dai Tin (later VNCB) under special control.

Pham Cong Danh directed employees of Thien Thanh Group to use 6,630 billion VND of VNCB deposited in Sacombank, BIDV, TPBank to guarantee loans through 29 companies established by Mr. Danh or borrowed legal entities and then transferred the money to Pham Cong Danh for use.

After that, 3 companies recovered the debt from VNCB's deposits, the total amount was 6,126 billion VND. Because the companies filed fake loan documents and did not conduct business according to the plan committed in the credit contract, they did not have money to pay the debt. VNCB Bank issued a guarantee but did not require collateral or mortgage, so the guarantee money could not be recovered, leading to a loss of more than 6,126 billion VND for VNCB.

Tram Be introduced Pham Cong Danh to former General Director Phan Huy Khang, then directed his subordinates to legalize disbursement procedures for Danh's companies to borrow 1,800 billion VND using fake documents, causing a loss of 1,840 billion VND to VNCB.