Fraud of 433 billion from 3 banks, "super fraudster" Nguyen Thi Ha Thanh received life sentence

On the morning of March 24, after 4 days of deliberation, the Hanoi People's Court sentenced Nguyen Thi Ha Thanh (39 years old, in Hanoi) and 25 other defendants involved in the fraud case of appropriating more than 433 billion VND from 3 banks and 4 individuals.

Defendant Nguyen Thi Ha Thanh was sentenced to life in prison for fraud and appropriation of property. For the same crime, Nguyen Thanh Tung and Nguyen Thi Thu Huong (Head of Customer Service Department of Dong Do Transaction Office of VietABank) were each sentenced to 18 years in prison, and Quan Trong Duc (Director of Hanoi Branch, Head of Dong Do Transaction Office) was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Defendant Dang Thi Quynh Huong (Head of the Personal Customer Department of Dong Do Transaction Office) was sentenced to a total of 17 years in prison for the crimes of Fraudulent Appropriation of Property and Violating regulations on banking activities and other activities related to banking activities. Nguyen Mai Phuong (controller of this bank) was sentenced to 14 years in prison for Fraudulent Appropriation of Property.

The defendants Do Minh Duc (former officer of PVcomBank) was sentenced to 6 years in prison, Bui Van Tuan (former officer of PVcomBank) was sentenced to 5 years in prison for violating regulations on banking activities and other activities related to banking activities.

For the same crime, Tran Thi Hoa (former Director of the Hanoi branch of NCB Bank) received a 5-year prison sentence. Defendant Nguyen Hong Trung received a 6-year prison sentence, Nguyen Thanh Binh 6 years in prison, Trinh Trung Kien 5 years and 6 months in prison, Trieu Dinh Hoan 30 months in prison, Nguyen Thi La and Trieu Thi Hanh both received 18 months in prison, and Pham The Tuan received 12 months in prison.

The group of defendants received sentences ranging from 12 months of non-custodial reform to 36 months of suspended imprisonment, including: Dang Thi Ngoc Lan, Dang Thi Thu Hoa, Nguyen Thi Hong Nhung, Trinh Phuong Ngan, Le Thi Hien, Pham Thu Hien, Do Thi Lien, Bui Thi Nga, Nguyen Giang Hoa and Nguyen Thi Hong Hanh.

During the trial, Nguyen Thi Ha Thanh and many defendants admitted the accusations of the Procuracy. In particular, Ha Thanh stated that she had no accomplices in the case, did not discuss it with anyone and benefited alone.

Meanwhile, Dang Thi Quynh Huong (former head of the Dong Do branch of VietAbank) was the only one who pleaded innocent because she was accused of two crimes. Quynh Huong said that in court, Ha Thanh stated that she did not participate or benefit. The defendant hoped that the court would consider the fact that she was not an accomplice of Thanh, nor did she participate in the disbursement process.

Some former bank officials such as Quan Trong Duc and Tran Thi Hoa said they did not intentionally commit crimes, but were simply careless or unable to fully control the behavior of their subordinates.

Mr. Dang Nghia Toan (who had more than 122 billion VND stolen from his savings at 3 bank branches) said that he did not borrow money from Ha Thanh and did not receive any interest from the defendant. Mr. Toan requested the court to force the 3 banks mentioned above to release and return the savings to him and his wife according to the law.

As for the bank representatives, when participating in the litigation, they argued that the relationship between Ha Thanh and Mr. Toan was a loan relationship through jointly owned savings deposits. The banks were only a tool to guarantee this civil relationship, so the one who paid Mr. Toan must be Ha Thanh.

After analysis, the People's Procuracy proposed that Nguyen Thi Ha Thanh compensate VietABank 249 billion VND, NCB 47.5 billion VND and PVcomBank 49.4 billion VND. Regarding the amount of 122 billion VND that Mr. Toan has in savings books deposited at 3 banks, the People's Procuracy proposed that the banks keep it to resolve the borrowing issue.

According to VTC