Court upholds sentence against Dinh La Thang in OceanBank case

The High-Level People’s Court in Hanoi on June 26 upheld the charges and sentences against Dinh La Thang and five of his accomplices in the case involving the National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam)’s contribution of VND800 billion to the Ocean Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OceanBank).

Dinh La Thang and his accomplices at the court (Source: VNA)
Dinh La Thang and his accomplices at the court (Source: VNA)

Accordingly, Thang, former Chairman of the PetroVietnam Member Council, will serve 18 years in prison for “deliberately violating State regulations on economic management, causing severe consequences” as announced by the Hanoi People’s Court in March 2018.

Together with a jail sentence of 13 years handed down by the High-Level People’s Court in Hanoi on May 14, 2018 for his involvement in the case of “asset embezzlement” and “deliberately violating State regulations on economic management, causing severe consequences” at PetroVietnam Construction JSC (PVC), Thang received a total jail sentence of 30 years.

The charges and sentences were also upheld for Nguyen Xuan Son, former Deputy General Director of PetroVietnam, Vu Khanh Truong and Nguyen Xuan Thang, both former members of the PetroVietnam Member Council.

In the first-instance trial, Son, Truong and Thang had received prison sentences of 30 months, five years, and 22 months, respectively, for “deliberately violating State regulations on economic management, causing severe consequences.”

Nguyen Thanh Liem, also former member of the PetroVietnam Member Council, had the penalty of non-custodial re-education for 20 months for the same charges upheld.

Ninh Van Quynh, former chief accountant and former head of the department of finance, accounting and auditing of PetroVietnam, will spend 23 years behind bars for “deliberately violating State regulations on economic management, causing severe consequences” and “abusing position and power to appropriate property” as decided by the first-instance court.

Only Phan Dinh Duc, former member of PetroVietnam’s Member Council, had his charges reduced to “lacking responsibility causing serious consequences” and received a warning instead of 15-month non-custodial re-education for “deliberately violating State regulations on economic management, causing severe consequences” handed down by the first instance court. Duc will also be exempted from civil obligations.

Further to their jail sentences, the court asked Dinh La Thang, Ninh Van Quynh and Vu Khanh Truong to provide compensation of 600 billion VND, 100 billion VND and 40 billion VND. Nguyen Xuan Son, Nguyen Xuan Thang and Nguyen Thanh Liem, each has to refund 15 billion VND.