Former Eximbank Deputy Director Accused of Embezzlement and Fraud
On June 4th, the Hanoi People’s Court tried Vu Thi Thu Nhung, former Deputy Director of Eximbank’s Ba Dinh branch, for “Fraudulently Appropriating Property” and “Forging Documents of Agencies and Organizations.”
The indictment alleged that around 2014, due to personal financial needs, Nhung deceived and provided false information to her acquaintances to defraud them of thousands of billions of VND.
Nhung falsely claimed that Eximbank’s Ba Dinh branch offered exclusive deposit programs for priority customers and internal leaders within the Eximbank system. These programs included flexible-term deposits, cash custody deposits, financial transaction deposits, and bank bonds with attractive interest rates ranging from 7.5% to 32% per annum. She also mentioned substantial “customer care gifts.”
Vu Thi Thu Nhung in court. Photo: DM |
According to Nhung, these programs were managed separately on the internal accounts of Eximbank’s leaders and were not publicly offered.
She proposed that interested individuals transfer money to her, promising to deposit it into the bank and provide receipts, as well as repay the principal and interest.
Additionally, Nhung falsely claimed that Eximbank’s Ba Dinh branch, where she served as Deputy Director, was responsible for auctioning off bad debts in the form of real estate. She suggested that interested investors could transfer money to a company called “Vietnam Investment Consulting and Asset Management Company,” which she referred to as an “insider company” of Eximbank’s internal leaders. However, this company was actually established by Nhung herself, with Nguyen Thi Dieu Linh acting as its director, while Nhung remained in control and used the company’s account for her schemes.
The accused offered short-term escrow periods of 5, 10, 15, or 25 days, promising investors the return of their principal along with a profit margin of 10-14% of the deposited amount, depending on the auctioned asset.
Using New Investors’ Money to Pay Old Ones
After receiving money from individuals who trusted her false information, Nhung failed to fulfill her commitments. Instead, she used the money received from new investors to pay the old ones, embezzling the remaining funds for her personal use and expenses.
In addition to the embezzlement charges, the investigation agency also uncovered Nhung’s act of forging 57 documents of Eximbank’s Ba Dinh branch.
These forged documents included: Flexible-term Deposit Certificates for Priority Customers, Deposit Certificates for Internal Leaders at Eximbank, Savings Books, USD-denominated Guaranteed Savings Books, Deposit Certificates, Cash Custody Deposit Certificates, and Eximbank Bonds (bearing the signature and seal of Vu Thi Thu Nhung, Deputy Director of Eximbank’s Ba Dinh branch, Hanoi).
Nhung provided these fake documents to the victims, gaining their trust and inducing them to transfer more money, which she eventually embezzled.
Through intermediaries or directly, from 2014 to May 2022, Vu Thi Thu Nhung defrauded approximately 100 people, embezzling over 2,705 billion VND. So far, the investigation agency has identified 46 victims with complete information, who transferred over 788 billion VND to Nhung. She used a large portion of this money to pay interest or profits to the victims she fabricated, totaling more than 477 billion VND.
Nhung also embezzled over 311 billion VND from the victims. As of now, the former bank executive is unable to compensate for the damage caused. Today’s trial had to be adjourned due to the absence of many victims and related individuals.
T.Nhung
