The Superior People’s Court, an appellate jurisdiction in Ha Noi, on June 26 maintained the charges and upheld the sentences against Dinh La Thang and five of his accomplices in the case involving the State-owned oil group PetroVietnam (PVN)’s contribution of VND800 billion to the private-owned Oceanbank.
Accordingly, Thang, former chairman of PVN, will serve 18 years in prison for “deliberately violating State regulations on economic management, causing severe consequences” as announced by the Ha Noi People’s Court in March 2018.
Together with a jail sentence of 13 years handed down by the Superior People’s Court in Ha Noi on May 14, 2018 for his involvement in the case of “asset embezzlement” and “deliberately violating State regulations on economic management, causing severe consequences” at PetroVietnam Construction JSC (PVC), Thang got a total of 30 years in jail.
The charges and sentences were also maintained for Nguyen Xuan Son, former Deputy General Director of PVN, Vu Khanh Truong and Nguyen Xuan Thang, both former members of the PVN Member Council.
In the first-instance trial, Son, Truong and Thang had received prison sentences of 30 months, five years and 22 months, respectively, for “deliberately violating State regulations on economic management, causing severe consequences.”
The penalty of non-custodial re-education for 20 months against Nguyen Thanh Liem, also former PVN board member, was upheld.
Ninh Van Quynh, former chief accountant and former head of the department of finance, accounting and auditing of PVN, will spend 23 years behind bars for “deliberately violating State regulations on economic management, causing severe consequences” and “abusing position and power to appropriate property” as decided by the first-instance court.
Only Phan Dinh Duc, former board member of PVN, had his charge reduced to “lacking responsibility causing serious consequences” and was issued a warning instead of 15-month non-custodial re-education for “deliberately violating State regulations on economic management, causing severe consequences” given by the first instance court.
Duc will also be exempted from civil obligations. Apart from jail sentences, the court asked Dinh La Thang, Ninh Van Quynh and Vu Khanh Truong to pay compensation of VND600 billion, VND100 billion and VND40 billion, respectively.
Nguyen Xuan Son, Nguyen Xuan Thang and Nguyen Thanh Liem, are ordered to repay VND15 billion each.
In 2008, after failing to establish Hong Viet Commercial Joint Stock Bank, PetroVietnam decided to invest in Oceanbank.
From 2008 to 2011, Dinh La Thang instructed and decided on PetroVietnam’s investment in Oceanbank to become a shareholder of the bank.
Under his instruction, Vu Khanh Truong, Nguyen Thanh Liem, Nguyen Xuan Thang, Phan Dinh Duc, Nguyen Xuan Son, and Ninh Van Quynh carried out three contributions of the group’s capital totaling VND800 billion to Oceanbank.
Due to Oceanbank’s weak capacity and violations committed by Ha Van Tham, former Chairman of Oceanbank, the bank incurred serious losses, leading to the loss of the whole VND800 billion invested by PetroVietnam when the State Bank of Vietnam was forced to buy Oceanbank at zero dong. — VNS