Upheld sentence for defendants in case of loss of more than 1,600 billion VND

On the afternoon of June 29, after 2 days of trial and lengthy deliberation, the High People's Court in Hanoi announced the verdict for the defendants who filed a lawsuit.appealin the major case that occurred at BIDV bank.

The panel of judges decided to uphold the first instance verdict against all three defendants for the crime of "Abuse of trust to appropriate property". Of these, Dinh Van Dung (former General Director of Binh Ha Company) was sentenced to 12 years in prison; Doan Hong Dung (former Director of Trung Dung Company) to 18 years in prison and Nguyen Thi Thanh Son (defendant Dung's wife, a capital contributor to Trung Dung Company) to 3 years in prison.

Regarding civil liability, the court ordered the defendant Dinh Van Dung to jointly compensate Tran Anh Quang (former General Director of Binh Ha Company) with more than 23 billion VND, of which the defendant Dung personally paid more than 6 billion VND. The court also ordered Trung Dung Company to repay BIDV more than 600 billion VND, and Doan Hong Dung and his wife jointly compensated 263 billion VND that they had appropriated from BIDV.

Three defendants at the appeal hearing stand to hear the verdict. Photo: Anh Dung

According to the panel of judges, the defendant Dinh Van Dung, as the general director, is the legal representative of Binh Ha Company and is also a capital contributor to the company. The defendant directly signed the contract with the brokerage company and directed the sale of the cows as well as collected the proceeds from the sale of the cows, including transferring the proceeds from the sale of the cows to his personal account to contribute capital to the company. Therefore, the defendant and his lawyer’s opinion that the defendant was not responsible for the sale of the cows is unfounded.

Regarding the defendants Doan Hong Dung and his wife, the panel of judges assessed that the violations of the defendants were very serious, causing particularly large losses of more than 263 billion VND, requiring strict punishment. The sentence that the court of first instance handed down to both defendants was appropriate, not severe, even the sentence for Nguyen Thi Thanh Son was too light, not commensurate with the consequences caused by the defendant's actions.

At the appeal court, defendant Thanh Son committed to remedying the consequences for BIDV, but the amount of money and payment schedule that the defendant proposed was too little compared to the consequences, not enough to consider mitigating circumstances.

In addition, the panel of judges also ruled on the appeal of the person with related rights and obligations, Ms. Tran Lan Phuong, daughter of Mr. Tran Bac Ha (former Chairman of BIDV Board of Directors, deceased). Ms. Phuong is also the heir to the litigation rights and obligations of her mother - Ms. Ngo Kim Lan (Mr. Ha's wife, deceased before the appeal hearing).

According to the People's Court, most of the assets of Mr. Tran Bac Ha and his wife were formed before Mr. Ha committed a violation of the law, therefore, it is necessary to continue to seize the real estate under the name of Mr. Ha and his wife to ensure enforcement of the judgment.

Regarding the real estate at 60A Ba Huyen Thanh Quan (HCMC), the panel of judges determined that this is Ms. Lan's private property, so there is a basis to partially accept Ms. Phuong's appeal to release the seizure of this real estate.

Previously, during the first instance trial, defendant Dinh Van Dung repeatedly pleaded not guilty. Mr. Dung affirmed that he did not direct the consumption of cows or collect money from the sale of cows from Binh Ha Company, so he could not have appropriated BIDV's money. This defendant and his defense lawyer requested the court to cancel the first instance judgment for reinvestigation.

The two remaining defendants who filed an appeal, Mr. Doan Hong Dung and his wife, earnestly hope that the panel of judges will consider reducing their sentences, both criminally and civilly.

Meanwhile, the person with related rights and obligations, Ms. Tran Lan Phuong, said that among the assets seized by Mr. Tran Bac Ha and his wife, there were 2 real estates in Ho Chi Minh City that were her mother's private property, and she hoped to keep them so that the family would have a place to live.