Hanoi has
seen the continuation of a court trial highlighting one of the largest graft
cases in the history of Vietnam. Over 50 bankers in the Asian nation stand
accused of embezzlement, mismanagement and corruption.
Deutsche Welle, 28 August 2017
 |
| The former chairman of Ocean Bank, Va Van Tham, on trial in Vietnam (picture-alliance/AP Photo/Doan Tan) |
Fifty-one
defendants are on trial in Vietnam for embezzling money from a state-owned
lender. The accused were employees of Ocean Bank, which partially belonged to
state-run energy company PetroVietnam.
Ha Van
Tham, the bank's former chairman, and his associates are charged with
"breaking regulations on lending activities at credit institutions"
and "deliberately violating state regulations on economic management,
causing serious consequences."
The trial
had originally begun in February but was adjourned to allow investigators time
to gather more evidence.
Death
sentences possible
Police have
since alleged that Tham approved a $23.5 million (19.7 million-euro) loan for
Pham Cong Danh, the former chairman of Vietnam Construction Bank, without
receiving the required collateral.
Danh is
already serving a 30-year prison term and has joined Tham as a defendant in the
newly resumed trial.
All in all,
the bankers in question are believed to have caused $69 million in losses.
In May
2015, the State Bank of Vietnam took over Ocean Bank after the lender reported
losses of $445 million and bad debts accounting for almost 50 percent of its
total outstanding loans.
Vietnam
ranks 113 out of 176 countries in Transparency International's 2016 corruption
index.
The government
has stepped up its anti-graft drive in recent years, with courts sentencing
several senior executives to death.
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