Hua Thi Phan, a representative of Phu My Group’s shareholders of Trust Bank, manipulated the bank to give her company significant benefits. In addition, Phuong Trang Group took a huge loan and then was slow to repay the debt. Phan caused nearly VND5trn (USD220.31 million) of damage.
Phan is accused of abusing trust to carry out the fraudulent appropriation of assets instead of violating state economic management which caused serious consequences.
Phan's house searched in March.
Trust Bank's head of asset valuation department Bui The Nghiep, Trust Bank's vice chairman Nguyen Vinh Mau and other alleged accomplices had their houses searched.
Trust Bank's former chairman of the management board, Hoang Van Toan, and former general director Tran Son Nam were accused of causing hundreds of billions of VND in losses for giving illegal loans to various companies including Dai Hoang Phuong and Thinh Quoc companies.
As of February 29, 2012, Trust Bank incurred over VND6.6trn (USD292m) in losses and VND2.9trn in negative equity. In 2012, Trust Bank was restructured and rebranded into Vietnam Construction Bank and Pham Cong Danh became chairman of the bank's management board.
The case was exposed in 2014 after Pham Cong Danh was accused of devising scams to steal from the bank, including setting up fraudulent companies and fake documents to take out huge loans.
On September 9, 2016, Danh and 35 of his accomplices were prosecuted for violations involving loans worth more than VND9trn (USD402 million). HCM City police launched an investigation into Hua Thi Phan's violations. Danh said he had paid Phan VND3.6trn to buy Phu My Group shares and properties but he hadn't received anything.
