The director of Maritime Bank's Thanh Xuan branch in Hanoi was arrested on Thursday for fraudulently appropriating VND338 billion ($13.53 million) from eight customers.
The investigation into Bui Thi Hoai Anh, 40, started in October 2023 after the bank alerted police to discrepancies related to Anh that amounted to VND165 billion ($6.6 million), but in fact the police found that the figure was nearly double the amount.
Anh is thought to have acted alone, and authorities are taking measures to recover the assets.
One of the victims, Nguyen Thi Lan, a 58-year-old resident in Hanoi, said she opened an account at Maritime Bank in early 2021.
By October 7, 2023, she had deposited a total of VND58.6 billion ($2.35 million) at the bank, but when she checked her statement there was only VND93,000 ($3.7) left. She told the bank that she had not made any withdrawals or transfers.
“During the process of inspecting operations and periodically evaluating staff, the bank discovered that a number of employees had close relationships with a group of customers before joining MSB," the bank said in its police report.