Supreme Court rejects Trust Bank appeals

HCM CITY – The HCM City People’s Supreme Court on Friday rejected all 26 appeals from 11 defendants and 15 of 214 people affected by economic mismanagement and misappropriation at Trust Bank, which led to a loss of VNĐ6.3 trillion (US$271 million).

The court retained the 30-year sentence for key defendant Hứa Thị Phấn, a former senior advisor for the management board of Trust Bank and former chairwoman of the management board of Phú Mỹ Investment and Development JSC.

She had appealed all of the previous first-instance judgments. In her letter of appeal, Phấn said the first-instance judgments were adjudicated unfairly and did not consider all of the evidence.

She wrongfully inflated the value of her house on Phạm Ngọc Thạch Street to sell it to Trust Bank, leading to a financial loss of over VNĐ1.1 trillion ($48.5 million).

She was also alleged to have violated the accounting law, causing a loss of over VNĐ5.2 trillion ($223.6 million) to the bank.

Phấn was asked to pay compensation of more than VNĐ1.1 trillion ($48.5 million) to CBBank for “abusing trust to appropriate property” and another VNĐ15.7 trillion ($691.7 million) for “intentionally violating State regulations on economic management and causing serious consequences”.

The judge agreed with the previous court’s decision to ask the Phương Trang company and other enterprises who co-operated with the Phương Trang company to pay back VNĐ6.4 trillion ($280 million) to the bank.

On May 31, 28 former officials of Trust Bank (Đại Tín Bank, now known as the Việt Nam Construction Bank) were sentenced to between three and 30 years in prison by the city People’s Supreme Court on charges of “abusing trust to appropriate property” and “intentionally violating State regulations on economic management and causing serious consequences” after a three-week trial.

Eleven of the 28 defendants in the case appealed the court’s verdict, while 15 of 214 people who incurred losses because of financial wrongdoings called for the trial that ended yesterday (Friday, Nov 2). -- LV