Trial held for former executives of Binh Son refinery company

Four defendants at the court (Source: VNA)

The defendants are Vu Manh Tung (born in 1974, former Deputy Director General of BSR), Nguyen Hoai Giang (born in 1968, former Chairman of BSR’s Council of Members), Pham Xuan Quang (born in 1980, former Chief Accountant of BSR), and Dinh Van Ngoc (born in 1973, former General Director of BSR).

The trial is the second phase of the case involving former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ocean Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OceanBank) Ha Van Tham, who was summoned to appear at the court as a person having rights and obligations related to the case along with two former Directors General of OceanBank Nguyen Minh Thu and Nguyen Xuan Son.

According to the indictment, from 2009 to 2014, BSR – a subsidiary of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) based in the central province of Quang Ngai – made fixed-term and demand deposits at the Quang Ngai branch of OceanBank.

The move was made under PetroVietnam’s direction regarding the prioritisation of using services of OceanBank, to which PetroVietnam contributed 20 percent of the charter capital.

As the then leaders of BSR, in 2013 and 2014, the four defendants decided to deposit the company’s money at OceanBank and received extra interest payment which was not included in contracts. The extra interest was paid by then General Director of OceanBank Nguyen Minh Thu, under the instruction of Ha Van Tham.

Vu Manh Tung received and appropriated 2.9 billion VND (124,800 USD) and 40,000 USD, while Nguyen Hoai Giang pocketed 2.9 billion VND; Pham Xuan Quang, 1.8 billion VND and 20,000 USD; and Dinh Van Ngoc, 1.5 billion VND, the indictment reads.

The Supreme People’s Procuracy said there is sufficient ground proving that the four abused their positions and power to appropriate assets.

It also reported that three defendants – Tung, Giang and Quang had paid back all the appropriated money while Dinh Van Ngoc had paid back more than half.

The trial is scheduled to last two days.