15 accused of scamming bank

Fifteen people have been arrested for suspicion of committing bank fraud that resulted in Global Petro Joint Stock Commercial Bank (GP Bank) losing billions of dong.

The accused are charged with "fraudulent appropriation of property" and "violations of regulations on lending activities of credit institutions", Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security said.

Five main suspects are identified as Tran Thi Hong Hanh, Director of D&T International Trading Joint Stock Company; Nguyen Thi Phuong, Director of Cao Cuong Limited Liability Company; Hoang Cao Tuan, Director of Thanh Tung Limited Liability Company; Vu Ngoc Toan and Do Nhu Phong, former Deputy General Directors of the GP Bank.

According to investigation results, different companies were established by Tran Thi Hong Hanh and Nguyen Thi Phuong, however they were operated as a family business, all under the management of one person.

Hanh and Phuong, with the help of several corrupted bank officials, are accused of signing false contracts with GP Bank with claims of goods that did not exist. Huge loans were granted and the bank ended up losing VND 84 billion (USD 4.4 million) of its money and VND 104 billion (USD 5.4 million) of the banks customers money to the scam.

Tran Thi Hong Hanh is said to have secured 47 villas for loans with the bank which she later sold for VND 91.3 billion (USD 4.7 million) without the bank's approval. Nguyen Thi Phuong secured 2,100 tonnes of sugar for her loans, but did not repay the debt and appropriated the bank about VND 74.5 billion (USD 3.9 million).

Five people are thought to be involved in assisting Hanh and Phuong to create fraudulent loan applications and a series of false documents that enabled the two to deceive the bank.

The remaining accused are charged for not following the bank's regulations and being an accomplice to steal money from the bank. By doing so, they have seriously violated regulations in regards to lending activities of credit institutions.

The case has been transferred to the Vietnamese Supreme People's Procuracy for prosecution.