Nguyen Duc Kien, former vice chairman of the founding council of the Asia Commercial Bank (ACB). — VNA/VNS Photo Doan Tan

HA NOI (VNS) — The Ha Noi People's Court yesterday resumed the trial of Nguyen Duc Kien, former vice chairman of the founding council of the Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), and his eight co-defendants on charges of corruption.

The trial was postponed on April 16 because defendant Tran Xuan Gia, former ACB chairman, was absent due to poor health.

A total of 23 lawyers have registered to defend the accused.

Kien, who was born in 1964 and resides in Ha Noi, is charged with appropriation of assets, intentional violations of the State's economic management regulations causing serious consequences, tax evasion and illegal trading.

Tran Ngoc Thanh and Nguyen Thi Hai Yen, the director and chief accountant of the Ha Noi ACB Investment JSC, are being prosecuted for swindling to appropriate assets.

Tran Xuan Gia and other defendants, including former ACB vice chairmen Le Vu Ky, Trinh Kim Quang and Pham Trung Cang; former ACB general director Ly Xuan Hai and former board member Huynh Quang Tuan, are charged with violating the State's economic management regulations causing serious consequences.

However, the case against Gia has been suspended because he is suffering from a serious illness, in accordance with Article 187, Clause 1, of the Criminal Procedural Code

The court accepted Kien's request to summon individuals and representatives of the State Bank of Viet Nam, the departments of Legal Affairs and Business Registration Management under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Department of Legal Affairs under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the General Department of Taxation and the Ha Noi and HCM City departments of Planning and Investment.

The court has also subpoenaed more than 80 people including Huynh Thi Huyen Nhu, a former official at the Vietnam Commercial Joint Stock Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank) in HCM City.

The trial is scheduled to last two weeks. — VNS