File photo. Tran Phuong Binh speaks at a shareholders meeting of DongA Bank in July 2015. Photo by Dtinews

In an announcement issued on Sunday, the SBV said that Binh and four other former leaders at DongA Bank were arrested on December 9 and will soon be prosecuted.

Tran Phuong Binh, 57, and his deputy Nguyen Thi Ngoc Van, 46, have been suspended since last August after the SBV discovered violations in financial management, lending and other business activities which seriously affected the bank's financial situation and operations, the announcement said.

The bank has since been put under special monitoring while the SBV carried out a restructuring into its organisation and operations.

According to the SBV, DongA Bank is now showing positive growth and maintained customer trust in its products and services.

The Ministry of Public Security yesterday also announced the offence of Binh, Van and three other officials at the bank.

Police have pressed two charges against Tran Phuong Binh and Nguyen Thi Ngoc Van, including intentionally violating state regulations on economic management that caused serious consequences, and violating regulations on lending at credit institutions.

Three other officials of the Ho Chi Minh City-based bank are charged of intentionally violating state regulations on economic management that caused serious consequences.

According to police, the violations of the five has caused losses of VND2 trillion (nearly USD100 million).

DongA Bank was established in 1992 with charter capital of VND20 billion (nearly USD900,000). As of the end of 2014, Dong A’s charter capital had risen to VND5 trillion (more than USD200 million) and its total assets were valued at more than VND87 trillion (nearly USD3.8 billion).

The bank fell under the spotlight in 2014 when it posted a pre-tax profit of just VND35 billion (USD1.5 million), down 96 percent from 2013.