Fraud cases 2016

The Ministry of Public Security pressed charges against Ha, former chairman of Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), with violating banking regulations, on Thursday. Three other senior officials - Tran Luc Lang, former deputy general director at BIDV, Kieu Dinh Hoa, former director of BIDV branch in Ha Tinh Province in north central Vietnam and Le Thi Van Anh, former head of the customer service department at the branch, also face the same carges. Lang and Hoa are also in custody. Ha was investigated for his responsibility in "very serious" violations committed at state-owned BIDV, Vietnam's second largest listed bank, linked to a massive fraud case at Vietnam Construction Bank (VNCB). In its report in June, the Central Inspection Committee, the top watchdog of Vietnam's Communist Party, concluded that Ha had violated the democratic centralism principle and working regulations, was guilty of mismanagement, as well as violations of … [Read more...] about Former chairman of top Vietnam bank arrested in massive fraud case

The People’s Court of the central province of Nghe An sentenced Nguyen Thi Lam, an employee of Eximbank at the local Do Luong branch, to life imprisonment. It also sentenced Dang Dinh Hong, former director of the branch, to five years in prison for allowing subordinates to conduct unauthorized transactions for customers between 2013 to 2016, resulting in losses of VND30 billion ($1,300) to the bank. 13 other former employees of Eximbank’s Do Luong branch received sentences ranging from 6 months’ probation to 36 months in prison for “deliberately disobeying government regulations on economic management, resulting in severe consequences.” From 2012 to 2016, Lam tricked customers by persuading them to deposit money in the branch, promising interest rates of 7 to 12 percent while the bank was actually paying much lower rates of between 4 to 5 percent. The customers also trusted Lam and signed documents that she brought to them, without going to the bank. Using … [Read more...] about Vietnamese banker receives life sentence in $2.2 million fraud case

The top watchdog of Vietnam's Communist Party has found a former banking official responsible for "very serious" violations committed at the state-owned bank BIDV that are linked to a massive fraud case at Vietnam Construction Bank (VNCB). In its report, the Central Inspection Committee concluded that Tran Bac Ha, former chairman of BIDV, had violated the democratic centralism principle and working regulations, lacked democracy in his management of the bank and violated the duties and responsibilities of his position. Ha also violated credit procedures and regulations in approving a number of loans, investments and debt management decisions. In particular, he enabled 12 companies owned by Pham Cong Danh, former chairman of VNCB, to borrow VND4.7 trillion ($206 million) from BIDV. While BIDV eventually managed to retrieve this money, the loans had helped Danh steal over VND9 trillion from VNCB. At a trial in 2016, Danh was sentenced to 30 years in prison, the maximum jail term allowed … [Read more...] about Another Vietnamese banker named for violations linked to massive banking fraud case

Vietnamese police arrested a once top-ranking police official on Friday for his involvement in a massive online gambling ring that has seen dozens of arrests made in recent months, including a number of other big fish. Phan Van Vinh, former director of the General Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security, is being investigated for abuse of power on duty, said police from the northern province of Phu Tho. He will be detained for at least four months for criminal probe, prosecutors said. Police in Phu Tho uncovered the gambling ring while investigating a fraud case regarding mobile top-up cards last May. The scammer told police that he had redeemed all the cards for virtual currencies used in an online gambling card game. While investigating this claim, police uncovered a large online gambling ring run by two tech businessmen using online games portals that resembled professional casinos. Investigators found the portals started operating in April 2015, drawing around 14 … [Read more...] about Vietnam’s former police chief arrested in multi-million-dollar gambling case

Vietnamese police opened a criminal investigation into a once top-ranking police official on Friday for his involvement in a massive online gambling ring that has seen dozens of arrests made in recent months, including a number of other big fish. Phan Van Vinh, former director of the General Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security, is being investigated for abuse of power on duty, said police from the northern province of Phu Tho. Police in Phu Tho uncovered the gambling ring after investigating a fraud case reported last May, in which a local was scammed out of VND55 million ($2,400) in mobile top-up cards. After being arrested, the scammer told police that he had redeemed all the cards for virtual currencies used in an online gambling card game. While investigating this claim, police uncovered a large online gambling ring run by two tech businessmen using two online games portals that resembled professional casinos. Investigators found the portals started operating in … [Read more...] about Vietnam’s former police chief under probe in multi-million-dollar gambling case

Police in Ho Chi Minh City arrested two employees of a major bank on Monday and seized boxes of documents connected to an alleged fraud case that costs one customer VND245 billion ($10.8 million). Officers from the Ministry of Public Security led Ho Thi Thuy and Nguyen Thi Thi away from the office of Eximbank in District 1 in handcuffs during the afternoon. Thuy and Thi are suspected of being involved in a million-dollar fraud committed by Le Nguyen Hung, former deputy director of the bank’s HCMC office, who has fled overseas. Police have not released an official statement. The ministry issued an international warrant for Hung a month ago after an investigation found he had forged documents to steal the money from a customer, who discovered the losses late last year. Chu Thi Binh, a seafood businesswoman, had been making major deposits at the bank since 2007. Her huge savings granted her VIP status, which meant she did not have to visit the bank every time she wanted to … [Read more...] about Vietnamese bankers nabbed in $10.8 million fraud case