The police have filed charges against former chairman of Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB) Tran Xuan Gia and three other former bank officials.

Four former ACB officials face prosecution for massive fraud (Tran Xuan Gia, Le Vu Ky, Trinh Kim Quang and Pham Trung Cang from left)

Mr. Gia is also former Minister of Planning and Investment. The other officials are Le Vu Ky, Trinh Kim Quang, Pham Trung Cang, former Vice Chairman of ACB.

On September 18, the ACB board of directors met and agreed to some changes in personnel. The board approved the resignation of Chairman Gia, who resigned due to reasons of ill health, while Vice Chairmen Le Vu Ky and Trinh Kim Quang also resigned from their positions for personal reasons.

According to the police, these former officials are suspected of being involved in a scam in late 2011, in which Huynh Thi Huyen Nhu, former head of VietinBank’s branch in HCM City, and her accomplices stool thousands of billions of VND through the over-the-counter market.

The inspection process also indicated that Nhu appropriated and swindled nearly VND719 billion (USD34.2 million) from the ACB. The police said that some ACB officials had helped in her theft, adding that they allowed ACB staff to put the bank’s VND and USD deposits into 29 different banks to enjoy interest rates higher than the levels capped by the State Bank of Vietnam. Nhu deposited the money at VietinBank’s Nha Be Branch to receive an interest rate disparity of 3.7% to 8% per year, stealing VND719 billion from the ACB.

According to the inspection agencies, ACB officials violated Article 106 of the Law on Credit Organisations and the SBV’s regulations in relation to having serious consequences for the nation’s credit security.

Investigators also said former General Director of ACB Ly Xuan Hai and ACB shareholder Nguyen Duc Kien, who were also recently arrested are on charges of deliberately acting against state regulations on economic management which were related to Nhu’s case. Gia, Ky, Cang and Quang are accused of being Hai and Kien’s co-conspirators.

Investigators also said that Gia, Ky, Quang, and Cang had actively co-operated with the investigating agency. However, due to the nature and extent of the crimes, they should only be detained under house arrest and granted bail.

Huynh Thi Huyen Nhu