Real estate tycoon Phan Van Anh Vu faces a life sentence after being charged with abusing his position to appropriate property in Dong A Bank case.
The investigation department at the Ministry of Public Security said on June 17 that they had transferred the case to the Supreme People’s Procuracy to prosecute Tran Phuong Binh, former general director of Dong A Bank, and 20 accomplices. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Van and Nguyen Thi Kim Xuyen, former deputy general directors of Dong A Bank, and former heads of transaction offices were also prosecuted for violating management regulations.
Phan Van Anh Vu, former chair of Bac Nam 79 Construction JSC and who bought Dong A Bank shares, was proposed life sentence.
According to the investigators, Binh’s directives and violations are the main reason why Dong A Bank incurred VND31trn (USD1.24bn) in losses and a negative equity of VND25.45trn. Xuyen manipulated Sao VN Company, Ninh Thinh Company and five individuals to withdrew VND467bn from Dong A Bank so that Binh could use the money to buy Dong A Bank shares. He also approved over VND10bn of false spending. Xuyen illegally traded and exported golds, causing over VND1.5trn in losses.
In 2013, Dong A Bank suffered from a series of losses so Binh wanted to raise the charter capital from VND5trn (USD200m) to VND6trn so he collaborated with Phan Van Anh Vu to carry out the scheme. After Vu bought 12.73 percent shares at Dong A Bank at the prices of VND600bn (USD26.4m), he became the major shareholder.
Vu used 220 plots of land in Danang as collateral to borrow VND400bn (USD16m) from Dong A Bank. Binh then falsified documents to give Vu VND200bn (USD8.8m) from Dong A Bank which hasn’t been returned.
At first, Vu admitted the accusations to the court but he then denied collaborating with Binh. Vu said he only let Binh use his name to buy Dong A Bank shares.
The investigators pointed out that Binh also used the money from the bank to buy USD13.9m for Vu which he hasn’t returned to Binh.
Vu is a well-known real estate tycoon in Danang but since last year his name has surfaced in the media as he was believed to be involved in a lot of property projects under police investigation and accused of “releasing state secrets”. He is also believed to be involved in many land transfers and the sale of publicly-owned houses.
