Sacombank Khanh Hoa director fired for deposit losses

Pham Tan Minh, director of the Sacombanks branch in Khanh Hoa province, has been dismissed from his post after four staff members at its Cam Ranh transaction office were arrested for property embezzlement.

Previously, customers had reported their deposits at the transaction office in Khanh Hoa's Cam Ranh town had disappeared.

A 46-year-old woman from Cam Phu ward, Cam Ranh town said VND46.9 billion ($1.99 million) in her personal account was illegally withdrawn by Sacombank Cam Ranh employees.

In May 2022, discovering that some money in her account had disappeared, she asked Sacombank to issue statements from May 1, 2022 to check her transactions. She found 12 unusual withdrawals and transfers with a total value of VND49.6 billion.

She said she did not make any withdrawals at the counter or transfers via internet banking. Worth mentioning, these transactions were performed without any message of account balance changes sent to her phone.

The statement also showed that nine cash withdrawals were made from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., when the transaction offices were closed.

On January 18, responding to the customer’s petition, the law firm representing Sacombank said that the record of 12 withdrawals from May 4 to June 14, 2022 with a total amount of VND46.9 billion at Sacombank's Cam Ranh transaction office has been handed over to the police for investigation.

“It is not reasonable for the client to ask the bank to refund the amount as the investigative agency has not yet delivered its conclusion,” it said.

On March 2, the Police Department for Corruption, Smuggling and Economic Crimes under the Ministry of Public Security transferred the woman's petition to the Khanh Hoa provincial police.

A leader of Sacombank Khanh Hoa admitted that many other customers depositing money at the bank's Cam Ranh transaction office had also lost money. These cases are under investigation.

In November 2022, Khanh Hoa police arrested Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha, 47, former deputy manager of Sacombank Cam Ranh, and Ngo Thi Hong Nhan, former cashier at the transaction office, for suspected embezzlement of money from the bank's customers.

Two other employees, Nguyen Tra My and Ngo Nu Hong Hai, have also been placed under investigation, but not detained.

The four are suspected of embezzling VND100 billion ($4.02 million) from the bank's customers.