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Defendant Đường Tấn Trước has admitted wrongdoing in court. Clip: Phạm Nguyễn
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On the afternoon of March 7, the trial of defendant Trương Mỹ Lan and 85 other defendants in the Vạn Thịnh Phát case, Sai Gon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB) and related units, temporarily adjourned after questioning defendant Đường Tấn Trước (41 years old, from Quảng Ngãi, former CEO of Tường Việt Trading and Manufacturing Company, abbreviated as Tường Việt Company).
Defendant Đường Tấn Trước. Screenshot.
In response to the court, defendant Đường Tấn Trước admitted that the accusations made against him were true.
At the trial, defendant Đường Tấn Trước said that his company specializes in providing power generators, elevators, furniture … and real estate. Through business, defendant Đường Tấn Trước knew that Trương Mỹ Lan was a well-known and reputable person in the market with a lot of real estate, so he wanted to partner with her.
According to defendant Trước, before switching to borrowing credit at SCB, his companies had never had any bad debts in about 20 years.
“During my working with Mrs. Lan, I provided legal advice, applied for licenses for the Mũi Đèn Đỏ project, Sài Gòn Bình An project, and Mrs. Lan paid me 1,500 billion VND. Mrs. Lan also said that she did not have money so she asked my company to borrow and she would pay the principal and interest,” defendant Đường Tấn Trước said.
Tường Việt Company was established in 2002, specializing in construction of civil and industrial works. The legal representative is Cao Việt Dũng (58 years old, from Hai Phong City) serving as Chairman of the Council; Đường Tấn Trước is the CEO.
Cao Việt Dũng and Đường Tấn Trước have established 14 other companies. Cao Việt Dũng appointed Đường Tấn Trước to manage the entire operation of Tường Việt Company group.
The indictment determined that defendant Đường Tấn Trước had agreed and coordinated with Trương Mỹ Lan on the use of legal entities in the Tường Việt Company group, cooperating with SCB officials to establish fake loan files, withdraw money from SCB for personal use.
Đường Tấn Trước helped Trương Mỹ Lan embezzle more than 4,752 billion VND, causing damages of more than 605 billion VND. Of which, defendant Đường Tấn Trước received 1,498 billion VND from Trương Mỹ Lan and used it for personal purposes.
After the case was initiated, Đường Tấn Trước rectified the consequences and paid SCB more than 813 billion VND for loans of Tường Việt Company and Việt Đức Company. In addition, Đường Tấn Trước also received more than 2,204 billion VND from Trương Mỹ Lan. Defendant Đường Tấn Trước requested to return all the money received from Trương Mỹ Lan to remedy the consequences.
