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An ineligible loan issued in 2007 was repeatedly “rescued” through new debt rollovers, sustaining hundreds of billions of dong in cash while triggering multiple regulatory violations. On April 17, 2026, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court sentenced several defendants in the Agribank lending activities case, with penalties ranging from 5 years to 14 years.
According to the indictment by the Supreme People’s Prosecutor’s Office, the case began in early 2007. Through introductions, Duong Thanh Cuong, Chairman of the Board and General Director of Binh Phat Company, met Nguyen The Binh, then Acting General Director of Agribank.
In later meetings, Binh instructed Ho Dang Trung, Director of Agribank Branch 6, to facilitate Bình Phát’s loan for the project. Although the loan file did not meet regulatory conditions, Trung approved disbursement procedures in breach of regulations.
At trial, Cuong admitted he had asked someone to influence the loan outcome. Trung testified that although he did not want to proceed, he was pressured and followed orders.
From April to July 2007, Trung signed five short-term credit contracts for Bình Phát totaling 302.5 billion dong, secured by 18 land plots with a total area of over 33,400 square meters.
Cuong drafted land transfer contracts that inflated the value from about 1.9–3.1 million dong per m2 to 12.5–13 million dong per m2. The total inflated asset value increased from about 65 billion dong to 358 billion dong.
After receiving the funds, Cuong used only about 70 billion dong for the intended purpose; the remaining over 230 billion dong was used for other purposes. When the loans matured and could not be repaid, Cuong proposed converting the five short-term loans into a medium-term loan.
The proposal was reported and approved by Binh. Long was then notified to complete subsequent procedures. Long admitted at trial that he knew the files were incomplete and the loan plan was not feasible, but still carried out the process due to directives from superiors, noting the client was connected to Binh.
At the time, Branch 6 could approve loans up to 100 billion dong. However, at Trung’s request and under pressure from Bình, the Agribank board raised the approval limit for Branch 6 to 500 billion dong for Bình Phát.
On 31 December 2007, a medium-term loan contract worth 500 billion dong was signed. On the same day, the bank disbursed more than 303 billion dong, which was used to settle principal and interest of the five prior loans, leaving just over 80 million dong.
By 2010, Bình Phát fell into bad debt and the project was halted. Cuong discussed with Vu Thi Bich Loan, Director of THY Company, to have THY take out loans to buy back mortgaged assets.
On 8 October 2010, Do Ngoc Dung, a credit officer at Branch 6, prepared a feasibility report for the project without actual verification. At trial, Dung testified that he signed the documents under instruction and was told there was already a favorable opinion from higher up.
On 31 October 2010, a transfer contract valued at 385 billion dong between Bình Phát and THY was signed but not notarized. Although the collateral did not meet conditions, the bank disbursed the full 385 billion dong to THY.
All of the money was then transferred back to Bình Phát to settle old debts. Because THY had no revenue, the loan quickly became overdue from 2011.
According to the conclusion, Cuong was identified as the person who directly used and benefited from the entire loan amount and therefore had to compensate. He also agreed to fulfill this obligation and pledged to do so in court.
The other defendants admitted wrongdoing, arguing that procedural breaches resulted from directives and pressure during their work.
On April 17, 2026, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court sentenced the defendants as follows: Duong Thanh Cuong — 14 years; Nguyen The Binh (tried in absentia) — 10 years; Ho Dang Trung — 6 years 6 months; Ho Van Long — 5 years 6 months; and Do Ngoc Dung — 5 years.
With the verdict, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court closed the trial phase. The ruling assigned responsibility to each defendant in the chain of violations and highlighted how a loan issued in error at the start can trigger numerous consequences when sustained through multiple rounds of debt rollovers.
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