SCB Bank closes many transaction offices from tomorrow

Today, December 5, Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB) announced the termination of operations of 6 transaction offices in Ho Chi Minh City.

From December 6, SCB will terminate the operations of Thi Nghe transaction office, Tan Dinh branch, Hiep Thanh transaction office, Hoc Mon branch, An Hoi transaction office, Hoc Mon branch, and Luy Ban Tich transaction office, Thong Nhat branch.

Previously, SCB terminated the operations of Bay Hien transaction office, Thong Nhat branch and Nguyen Thong transaction office, Pham Ngoc Thach branch from December 2.

In October and November, SCB announced the closure of 21 transaction offices in Dong Nai, Da Nang, Gia Lai, Long An, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

Thus, from the beginning of June until now, SCB has announced the closure of 39 transaction offices in 9 provinces and cities, including: Ho Chi Minh City 27 transaction offices, Hanoi 5 transaction offices, Hai Phong 1 transaction office, Nghe An 1 transaction office, Binh Dinh 1 transaction office, Dong Nai 1 transaction office, Da Nang 1 transaction office, Gia Lai 1 transaction office, Long An 1 transaction office.

In October 2022, the State Bank announced its decision to put SCB under special control to stabilize the bank's operations. The State Bank's special control of a credit institution is a professional measure in accordance with the law to strictly control and limit negative impacts on that credit institution and the system of credit institutions.

Accordingly, SCB's operations are carried out under the control of the State Bank. The State Bank selects and appoints experienced, competent, and professionally qualified officers from state-owned commercial banks (Vietcombank, BIDV, VietinBank, Agribank) to participate in the management and operation of SCB.

The State Bank also coordinates with relevant ministries and branches to synchronously implement necessary solutions for banks to operate safely and healthily.

According to the investigation conclusion of the Van Thinh Phat case by the Department of Investigation Police on Economic Crimes, Corruption and Smuggling (C03) - Ministry of Public Security, before 2011, Ms. Truong My Lan - Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Van Thinh Phat Group, although not holding a management position, controlled all senior personnel arrangements at SCB and made important decisions such as key recruitment.

According to the investigation results, important positions such as the Board of Directors, General Director Board, and branch directors were all "directly recruited by Ms. Lan from her trusted juniors" and paid salaries of 200 - 500 million VND.

The investigation agency accused the defendant Truong My Lan of using SCB Bank to mobilize capital from people and organizations, then using this money for her personal purposes. By creating fake loan documents, this defendant appropriated 93% of the loan amount of SCB Bank.

According to the Investigation Agency, from February 2018 to October 2022, Ms. Lan directed the creation of 916 fake loan applications of SCB, embezzling more than 300,000 billion VND. Ms. Lan is also accused of causing losses in interest of nearly 130,000 billion VND.

Since 2020, Ms. Lan has requested SCB leaders to establish a number of lending units under SCB headquarters, in order to avoid the control of the State Bank of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City branch. These three units include the Wholesale Customer Business Center, the direct business channel of the corporate sector and the direct business channel of the personal finance sector, managed by SCB headquarters and whose main task is to serve the disbursement of Ms. Lan's loans.

In total, from 2012 to 2022, SCB has disbursed loans to more than 1,366 customers (including 710 individuals and 656 organizations). Ms. Lan's group accounts for more than 2,500 loans at SCB, with a total disbursement amount of more than 1 quadrillion VND. However, 875 customers in Ms. Lan's group with nearly 1,300 loans still have outstanding loans at SCB, reaching more than 677,000 billion VND (including 483,000 billion VND of principal and 193,000 billion VND of interest).

Ms. Lan is also accused of using many tricks to avoid the control of the authorities, including transferring disbursed money to "ghost" companies, then withdrawing the premises and cutting off the cash flow. This helps the defendant legalize the withdrawal of money and prevent detection.