Dinh La Thang answers questions raised by the judging council (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The High-Level People’s Procuracy in Hanoi on June 22 proposedupholding the first-instance sentences for Dinh La Thang and his accomplices inthe case involving PetroVietnam’s contribution of 800 billion VND (35.2 millionUSD) to Oceanbank.
The appeal trial on the case began on June 19 and isexpected to last until June 25.
In this case, all seven defendants appealed against thejudgment issued by the Hanoi People’s Court at the first-instance trial inMarch this year.
They are Dinh La Thang, former Chairman of the MemberCouncil of PetroVietnam (National Oil and Gas Group); Nguyen Xuan Son, formerDeputy General Director of PetroVietnam; Vu Khanh Truong, Nguyen Thanh Liem,Phan Dinh Duc and Nguyen Xuan Thang, who are former members of the PetroVietnamMember Council; and Ninh Van Quynh, former chief accountant and former head ofthe department of finance, accounting and auditing of PetroVietnam.
The court sentenced Dinh La Thang to 18 years in prison,Nguyen Xuan Son to 30 months in prison, Vu Khanh Truong to 5 years in jail,Nguyen Xuan Thang 22 months in jail, and Nguyen Thanh Liem and Phan Dinh Duc tonon-custodial re-education periods of 20 months and 15 months, respectively, onthe charge of “deliberately violating State regulations on economic management,causing serious consequences.”
Ninh Van Quynh received a total of 23 years in prison for“deliberately violating State regulations on economic management, causingserious consequences,” and “abusing position and power to arrogate property.”
Along with imprisonment sentences, Dinh La Thang was orderedto pay 600 billion VND in compensation to PetroVietnam, while Quynh mustcompensate 100 billion VND and Truong 40 billion VND. The rest four defendantswere requested to compensate 15 billion VND each.
The procuracy said that the first-instance judgments of theHanoi’s court are correct and based on law, thus the court should reject thedefendants’ appeals. The Procuracy noted that to date, there has been no newpoints that can help reduce the punishment.
According to the procuracy, Dinh La Thang signed anagreement on PetroVietnam’s capital contribution to Oceanbank with Ha Van Tham,former Chairman of the bank’s Board of Directors, but did not ask for theExecutive Council’s approval, which was against regulations. Thang also decidedand directed the capital contribution when he did not know the bank’s operationsituation and results.
In this case, Thang played a main role in directing otherdefendants to commit the law violation. The first-instance trial alsoconsidered Thang’s contributions to the society to apply extenuatingcircumstances as regulated by law.
In 2008, after failing to establish Hong Viet CommercialJoint Stock Bank, PetroVietnam decided to invest in OceanBank.
From 2008 to 2011, Dinh La Thang instructed and decided onPetroVietnam’s capital contribution to OceanBank to become a shareholder of thebank.
Under his instruction, Vu Khanh Truong, Nguyen Thanh Liem,Nguyen Xuan Thang, Phan Dinh Duc, Nguyen Xuan Son and Ninh Van Quynh carriedout three contributions of the group’s capital totaling 800 billion VND toOceanBank.
Due to OceanBank’s poor capability and violations committedby Ha Van Tham, former Chairman of OceanBank’s Board of Directors, the banksuffered serious losses, leading to the loss of the whole 800 billion VNDinvested by PetroVietnam when the State Bank of Vietnam was forced to buyOceanBank at zero VND.-VNA
VNA
