VietNamNet Bridge – The Supreme People’s Procuracy announced on Sunday its decision to prosecute the notorious real estate mogul Phan Van Anh Vu and 25 defendants for allegedly causing losses of more than US$160 million to Dong A Bank (DAB).

Phan Van Anh Vu at a court on July 30, 2018. — VNA/VNS Photo

The bank’s former general director/vice president, Tran Phuong Binh was accused of being the instigator in the case. The 59-year-old was charged with abuse of power to appropriate assets and deliberate breaches.

The rest of those prosecuted include 20 high-level and senior officers of the DAB and four bank borrowers involved in the case.

According to the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the wrongdoings led to the loss of more than VND3.6 trillion ($160 million) by DAB, pushing the bank on the verge of bankruptcy in late 2015 with accumulated losses of more than VND31 trillion.

Binh and his closest underling Nguyen Thi Kim Xuyen, DAB former deputy general director, together with Phan Van Anh Vu, ex-chairman of the board of the 79 North South Construction JSC and Pham Van Phuoc, former director of the Nam Dinh Food JSC, allegedly took more than VND2.05 trillion out of the colossal VND3.6 trillion.

Binh and Xuyen were also said to be responsible for six wrongdoings in the bank’s business management that resulted in losses of more than VND1.55 trillion. Sixteen DAB officers who followed orders from the couple faced charges of deliberate breaches causing serious consequences.

This was the fourth criminal case Phan Van Anh Vu was involved with since he was captured on the run in Singapore this January. In July, he was sentenced to nine years behind bars for disclosing State secrets. Other investigations into tax evasion and his role in dubious public land management were on-going. 

Source: VNS