Three officials of the Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) siphoned off VND45 billion (USD2.1 million) for betting on football matches.
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| Hien, Khai and Hai (Photo by An Ninh The Gioi) |
According to the Hanoi police, the local anti-corruption force found 185 falsified withdrawals, adding up to VND45 billion at Agribank’s branch in My Duc District, Hanoi.
An investigation led police to three employees of the bank, Le Van Hien, 43, Head of the branch’s Accounting Department; Le Quang Khai, 29, from Kenh Dao transaction office and Nguyen Thanh Hai, 31, from Huong Son transaction office. They are being prosecuted for embezzlement.
The police are also prosecuting Nguyen Van Nghi, 48, Director of the branch’s Kenh Dao transaction office, for negligence due to his lax oversight. Nghi simply approved the documents without adequately checking their authenticity.
A downward spiral
Khai ultimately confessed to police that he had been gambling on international football games online. The betting scheme was organised by Pham Van Quyet.
Khai set up an account with the gambling site worth VND100 million (USD4,784).
He then allegedly persuaded Hai and Hien to start betting on games as well.
The three spent hundreds of millions, or even billions, of VND, and they found themselves with mounting losses.
According to the results of the inspection, Khai and Hai transferred tens of billions of VND to their relatives’ accounts and then withdrew the money to give to Quyet.
Quyet fled after the case was brought to light in May. There is a warrant out for his arrest.
An official from the Hanoi anti-corruption police said that lax supervision over transaction documents, along with incompetent management leaves room for such crimes.
Also in May, the Hanoi police arrested Nguyen Thi Nhung, 46, and Ngo Thi My Lien, 31, for misappropriating a total of VND6 billion (USD287,081) from Agribank’s branch in Thuong Tin District.