Vietnam prosecutes 23 enforcement officials in Van Thinh Phat scandal

Vietnamese authorities have initiated criminal proceedings against 23 officials working for enforcement agencies for wrongdoings related to the Van Thinh Phat scam, part of intensified efforts to root out corruption in the country.

The new 23 accused officials used to work for state-run inspection, auditing, and banking supervisory agencies at central and local levels, the Central Commission for Internal Affairs said at a press briefing.

They are among 72 people being prosecuted in two new cases, part of the expanded investigations into violations at Van Thinh Phat Group, Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), and subsidiaries.

According to conclusions of the Ministry of Public Security's investigative agency made public last Friday, between February 2018 and October 2022, Truong My Lan, chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group, orders people under her influence to take out VND545 trillion ($22.43 billion) in loans illegally from SCB, appropriating over VND304 trillion ($12.53 billion).

In addition, Lan has been accused of causing nearly VND130 trillion in interest damage to SCB.

As a result, the investigative agency has proposed prosecuting Lan for giving bribes, violating regulations on banking operations, and embezzlement.

To overlook serious violations at SCB, all members of an inspection team received bribes. Among them, Do Thi Nhan, former head of a department under the State Bank of Vietnam's supervisory authority, was accused of accepting bribes of $5.2 million.

The amount is the largest bribe taken for a single individual in Vietnam detected so far, said Nguyen Van Yen, a deputy head of the Central Commission for Internal Affairs at the press meeting late Wednesday.

Dang Van Dung, also a deputy head of the commission, stressed that the Van Thinh Phat scandal has become notorious for violations in the banking sector where a bank was turned into a “backyard” company.