Sentenced to death Nguyen Xuan Son, life in prison Ha Van Tham

This morning, the People's Court sentenced Nguyen Xuan Son (former General Director of Oceanbank) to death and Ha Van Tham (former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Oceanbank) to life in prison.

The panel of judges stated that: Ha Van Tham was the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Oceanbank. From 2008 to 2014, there were many violations at Oceanbank that caused particularly serious damage.

Ha Van Tham. Photo: Minh Quang

Determining the actions of Ha Van Tham, Nguyen Van Hoan (former Deputy General Director of OceanBank), Pham Cong Danh (former Chairman of Construction Bank), Hua Thi Phan (former Chairman of Phu My Company), Tran Van Binh (former Chairman of Trung Dung Company) committed the crime of violating regulations on lending in the activities of credit institutions.

In which, Ha Van Tham is primarily responsible, Hua Thi Phan is the beneficiary of 500 billion VND from Oceanbank, so these two defendants need to receive severe punishment.

Tran Van Binh and Nguyen Van Hoan are just salaried workers so their sentences should be reduced.

The panel of judges assessed: In the act of abusing position to appropriate 69 billion VND from Oceanbank and customers through BSC Company, Ha Van Tham and Nguyen Xuan Son played the main roles.

The defendants Hoang Thi Hong Tu and Pham Hoang Giang have insignificant actions, actively helping the investigation agency; both have difficult family circumstances. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the sentence for defendant Giang, only giving defendant Tu a suspended sentence is enough to deter and educate.

Regarding the act of paying extra interest causing a loss of 1,576 billion VND, the defendants are leaders of the Association at Oceanbank who directed the payment of extra interest throughout the entire system of this bank. The customers who received the money mainly belonged to the oil and gas group.

The defendants and lawyers argued that the payment of extra interest did not cause any damage, but only violated and was handled under Circular 02 of 2011. However, the appraisal conclusion showed that the 1,576 billion VND also served the personal purposes of Oceanbank's leaders. The payment of extra interest exceeded the maximum interest rate ceiling prescribed by the State Bank (not exceeding 14.5%/year), violating the provisions of the accounting law; the financial regime of Oceanbank and other regulations.

The violation is particularly serious, beyond correction by administrative measures.

The entire amount of 1,576 billion VND spent by Oceanbank was against regulations and could not be recovered. This also created unfair competition, increased inflation affecting the national economy, and violated the State's management rights...

Notably, paying extra interest to oil and gas units is paying to the leaders of oil and gas units, which is a condition leading to other consequences.

Nguyen Xuan Son. Photo: Minh Quang

Although Nguyen Xuan Son no longer works at Oceanbank, he still pays interest through Nguyen Minh Thu, so he must be jointly responsible.

In addition, the panel determined that the defendants, who are Oceanbank Headquarters officials, must also bear criminal responsibility for the illegal interest payments.

Regarding the acts of embezzlement of Nguyen Xuan Son and Ha Van Tham, the panel of judges made the following judgment: At court, Nguyen Xuan Son confessed that he received money from Tham and then paid it to Ninh Van Quynh and used it for diplomatic expenses, holidays, etc.

According to the panel of judges, Nguyen Xuan Son's crime was completed, determining how the defendant used the money has no meaning in determining the crime, so a severe sentence is needed for defendant Son.

For Ha Van Tham, because he confessed honestly, the panel of judges believed that only a fixed-term sentence was enough to deter him.

With the above findings, the panel sentenced:

Ha Van Tham(45 years old, former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Oceanbank): life imprisonment for embezzlement; 19 years in prison for intentionally violating state regulations on economic management causing serious consequences; 20 years in prison for abuse of position and power to appropriate property; 18 years in prison for violating regulations on lending in the operations of credit institutions.

The total penalty is life imprisonment.

Nguyen Xuan Son(55 years old, former General Director of Oceanbank): death sentence for embezzlement; life sentence for abuse of position and power to appropriate property; 17 years in prison for intentionally violating state regulations on economic management causing serious consequences.

The total sentence for Nguyen Xuan Son is death.

Nguyen Minh Thu(44 years old, former General Director - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Oceanbank): 9 years in prison for Abusing position and power to appropriate property; 13 years in prison for Intentionally violating state regulations on economic management causing serious consequences.

Nguyen Van Hoan(40 years old, former Deputy General Director of Oceanbank): 10 years in prison for Abusing position and power to appropriate property; 12 years in prison for Violating regulations on lending in the operations of credit institutions.

Le Thi Thu Thuy(40 years old, former Deputy General Director of Oceanbank): 6 years for intentionally violating state regulations on economic management causing serious consequences.

Vu Thi Thuy Duong(37 years old, former Director of Accounting and Domestic Transactions at Oceanbank): 4 crimes of intentionally violating state regulations on economic management causing serious consequences.

Nguyen Thi Nga(37 years old, former Chief Accountant of Oceanbank): 42 months in prison for intentionally violating state regulations on economic management causing serious consequences.

Nguyen Hoai Nam(40 years old, former Director of Capital Resources): 42 months and five years in prison for intentionally violating state regulations on economic management causing serious consequences.

Nguyen Thi Thu Ba(44 years old, former Director of Oceanbank retail banking): 36 months and 5 years in prison for intentionally violating state regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences.

Do Dai Khoi Trang(41 years old, former Director of Oceanbank's personal customer division): 36 months in prison for intentionally violating state regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences.

Nguyen Xuan Thang(38 years old, former Deputy Director of large customers and strategic partners) 36 months and 5 years for intentionally violating state regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences.

Nguyen Thi Minh PhuongBecause he is being treated for a serious illness and the case has been temporarily suspended, the People's Procuracy does not propose criminal liability.

The jury sentenced:

Hoang Thi Hong Tu(34 years old, former Chairman of the Board of Directors of BSC Company): 36 months suspended sentence for Abusing position and power to appropriate property.

Pham Hoang Giang(42 years old, former General Director of BSC company): 4 years in prison for Abusing position and power to appropriate property.

Pham Cong Danh(52 years old, former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Thien Thanh Group): 14 years in prison for violating regulations on lending in the operations of credit institutions.

Tran Van Binh(51 years old, former General Director of Trung Dung Company): 4 years in prison for violating regulations on lending in the operations of credit institutions.

Hua Thi Phan(70 years old, former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Phu My Company): 17 years in prison for Violating lending regulations in the operations of credit institutions.

For the group of 34 defendants who are directors of Oceanbank branches and transaction offices who committed the crime of intentionally violating state regulations on economic management causing serious consequences, the People's Court sentenced them to 18-36 months in prison but suspended the sentence.

The panel also sentenced some defendants to non-custodial reform.

According to Vietnamnet