Appeal court gives out death and life sentences in OceanBank case

May 05, 2018 | 12:00

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The appeal trial upheld almost the entire first verdict, sentencing Nguyen Xuan Son to death, and Ha Van Tham to life imprisonment, identifying them as the masterminds behind the scheme that cost VND1 trillion ($44 million) to OceanBank.

appeal court gives out death and life sentences in oceanbank case

Nguyen Xuan Son (left) and Ha Van Tham (right) at the appeal court of appropriation case in OceanBank. Photo: Vnexpress

Yesterday, the Hanoi People’s Court sentenced Ha Van Tham, Nguyen Xuan Son, and other defendants who caused more than VND1 trillion ($44 million) damages to OceanBank after two weeks of trial and deliberation.

The appeal trial upheld almost the whole first instance verdict and only reduced penalty for the former directors of OceanBank units.

The appeal verdicts for the 26 defendants are as follows:

No.	Defendants	Position	Charge	First instance verdict	Grounds for appeal	Appeal trial verdict
1	Ha Van Tham (46)	Former chairman of OceanBank	Embezzling property	Life imprisonment	Innocent	Life imprisonment
0	0	0	Deliberately acting against the state’s regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences	19 years of imprisonment	Civil compensation	19 years of imprisonment
0	0	0	Abusing position and/or powers to appropriate property	20 years of imprisonment	Innocent	20 years of imprisonment
0	0	0	Breaching regulations on loan provision in the operations of credit institutions	18 years of imprisonment	No appeal	18 years of imprisonment
2	Nguyen Xuan Son (56)	Former general director of OceanBank	Embezzling property	Death	Innocent	Death
0	0	0	Abusing position and/or powers to appropriate property	Life imprisonment	Innocent	Life imprisonment
0	0	0	Deliberately acting against the state’s regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences	17 years of imprisonment	No appeal	17 years of imprisonment
3	Nguyen Minh Thu (45)	Former general director and chairman of OceanBank	Abusing position and/or powers to appropriate property	9 years of imprisonment	Review the crime and reduce penalty	9 years of imprisonment
0	0	0	Deliberately acting against the state’s regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences	13 years of imprisonment	Reduce penalty	13 years of imprisonment
4	Nguyen Van Hoan (41)	Former deputy general director of OceanBank	Abusing position and/or powers to appropriate property	10 years of imprisonment	Review the crime	10 years of imprisonment
0	0	0	Breaching regulations on loan provision in the operations of credit institutions	12 years of imprisonment	Reduce the penalty	10 years of imprisonment
5	Le Thi Thu Thuy (41)	Former deputy general director of OceanBank	Deliberately acting against the state’s regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences	6 years of imprisonment	Reduce the penalty to suspended imprisonment	4 years of imprisonment
6	Vu Thi Thuy Duong (38)	Former director of accounting and domestic transaction of OceanBank	(As above)	4 years of imprisonment	Reduce the penalty to suspended imprisonment	42 months of imprisonment
7	Nguyen Thi Nga (38)	Chief of accountant of OceanBank	(As above)	42 months of imprisonment	Reduce the penalty to suspended imprisonment	30 months of imprisonment
8	Nguyen Hoai Nam (41)	Former director of capital resources of OceanBank	(As above)	42 months of imprisonment	Reduce the penalty to suspended imprisonment	36 months of imprisonment
9	Nguyen Thi Thu Ba (45)	Former director of retail banking of OceanBank	(As above)	36 months of imprisonment	Pleaded for suspended imprisonment	30 months of imprisonment
10	Do Dai Khoi Trang (42)	Former director of individual customers of OceanBank	(As above)	36 months of imprisonment	Pleaded for suspended imprisonment	24 months of imprisonment
11	Pham Cong Danh (53)	Former chairman of Thien Thanh Corporation	Breaching regulations on loan provision in the operations of credit institutions	14 years of imprisonment	Appealed against the whole first instance verdict	14 years of imprisonment
12	Hua Thi Phan (71)	Former chairman of Phu My Investment Co., Ltd.	Breaching regulations on loan provision in the operations of credit institutions	17 years of imprisonment	Appealed against the whole first instance verdict	17 years of imprisonment
13	Trinh Xuan Ha (36)	Former director of OceanBank’s Long Bien branch	Deliberately acting against the state’s regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences	24 months of non-custodial re-education	Exemption of criminal liability, reduce penalty	24 months of non-custodial re-education
14	Nguyen Thi Loan (38)	Former director of OceanBank’s Trung Yen branch	(As above)	18 months of suspended imprisonment	Exemption of criminal liability, reduce penalty	18 months of suspended imprisonment
15	Nguyen Phan Trung Kien (35)	Former director of OceanBank’s Dong Do branch	(As above)	24 months of non-custodial re-education	Exemption of criminal liability, reduce penalty	24 months of non-custodial re-education
16	Ngo Hai Nam (43)	Former director of OceanBank’s Quang Ninh branch	(As above)	22 months of suspended imprisonment	Reduce penalty	22 months of suspended imprisonment
17	Tran Anh Thiet (41)	Hanoi	(As above)	18 months of suspended imprisonment	Exemption of criminal liability, and move to non-custodial re-education	18 months of suspended imprisonment
18	Nguyen Huu Nam	Former director of OceanBank’s Quy Nhon branch	(As above)	18 months of suspended imprisonment	Reduce penalty	18 months of suspended imprisonment
19	Luu Hong Van	Former director of OceanBank’s Ha Dong branch	(As above)	18 months of suspended imprisonment	Move to non-custodial re-education, and reduce penalty	18 months of suspended imprisonment
20	Ngo Hoang Long	Former director of OceanBank’s Au Co branch	(As above)	18 months of suspended imprisonment	Move to non-custodial re-education, and reduce penalty	18 months of suspended imprisonment
21	Le Bao Kien	Former director of OceanBank’s Hoan Kiem branch	(As above)	20 months of suspended imprisonment	Exemption of criminal liability, and reduce penalty	20 months of suspended imprisonment
22	Mai Van Cuong	Former director of OceanBank’s Haiphong branch	(As above)	20 months of suspended imprisonment	Exemption of criminal liability, and reduce penalty	20 months of suspended imprisonment
23	Ta Hoang Phuong	Former director of OceanBank’s Khanh Hoa branch	(As above)	20 months of suspended imprisonment	Exemption of criminal liability, and reduce penalty	20 months of suspended imprisonment
24	Tran Thi Thien Ngan	Former director of OceanBank’s Danang branch	(As above)	20 months of suspended imprisonment	Exemption of criminal liability, and reduce penalty	20 months of suspended imprisonment
25	Nguyen Hong Quan	Former director of OceanBank’s Ca Mau branch	(As above)	18 months of suspended imprisonment	Reduce penalty	18 months of suspended imprisonment
26	Nguyen Van Duc	Former director of OceanBank’s Thanh Hoa branch	(As above)	20 months of suspended imprisonment	Exemption of criminal liability, and reduce penalty	20 months of suspended imprisonment

However, at the appeal court, the wife of Nguyen Xuan Son returned VND5 billion ($0.22 million) and expressed the desire of returning additional VND32 billion ($1.4 million) which is come from assistance of a Son’s close friend.

Total of these two amount is equivalent to 75 per cent of the total amount VND49 billion ($2.16 million) that Nguyen Xuan Son has to pay PetroVietnam according to the first instance verdict in September 2017.

“The appeal court will propose the Supreme People’s Court to consider reducing penalty of Son from death to life imprisonment if he returns at least 75 per cent of total damages,” noted the verdict.

As a result, if Nguyen Xuan Son returns 75 per cent of the damage caused ($1.63 million), the Supreme People’s Court will consider reducing the penalty to life imprisonment. Regarding Ha Van Tham, the court issued conditions to reduce his life sentence.

Accordingly, Tham will be in prison for 12 years, after which the Supreme People's Court will decide whether he returned a sufficient portion of the appropriated money, in light of which they might reduce his life sentence to a limited-time imprisonment.

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