Former SJC general director Le Thuy Hang, along with Mai Quoc Uy Vien, Tran Tan Phat (director and deputy director of the gold workshop), Hoang Le Hue (director of SJC's central region branch), and Doan Le Thanh (head of the gold bar casting team at the Tan Thuan gold workshop, all of Saigon Jewelry Company Limited - SJC), were tried by the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City for embezzlement and abuse of power.
Eleven other defendants were prosecuted as accomplices or for embezzlement.
>> List of 16 defendants
The trial is expected to last until 30/9. Twenty lawyers are defending the accused, six of whom represent Hang.
SJC is identified as the victim, as well as a party with related rights and obligations. The jury also summoned 115 individuals and organizations to participate in the trial, including the State Bank of Vietnam.
Hang and her accomplices were determined to have caused a total loss of over 107 billion VND to SJC. To ensure the recovery of damages, investigators seized nearly 429 taels of gold and placed liens on eight properties (six land use rights belonging to Hang and two apartments belonging to Tran Tan Phat).
The defendants were acknowledged by the procuracy for their honest confessions, active cooperation in resolving the case, and voluntary compensation for damages. Hang returned 20 billion VND, while others returned over 8 billion VND.
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Le Thuy Hang at a press conference on the afternoon of 16/5/2024. Photo: An Phuong |
Le Thuy Hang at a press conference on the afternoon of 16/5/2024. Photo: An Phuong
According to the indictment, in mid-2024, the State Bank of Vietnam delivered two shipments of 10 tons of raw gold to SJC for processing and production of gold bars. Hang, taking advantage of her position as general director, directed her subordinates to create false reports inflating the loss rate during the processing.
She then approved the allocation of raw gold for losses at a rate of 0.0005 per product, reporting to the State Bank a total gold loss during the processing of 10 tons of gold, thereby misappropriating 95 taels of gold (worth 8.4 billion VND). The procuracy determined that Hang alone embezzled more than 85 taels (worth about 6.6 billion VND).
In addition, the former SJC general director was also accused of directing Hoang Le Hue to falsify documents, buying gold at high prices and selling at low prices to create a false loss, embezzling 3.2 billion VND at the central region branch. Hang benefited by 2.1 billion VND from this scheme.
For these violations, Hang and her accomplices were charged with embezzling 11.6 billion VND, of which Hang pocketed 8.7 billion VND.
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SJC gold bars at the company's headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City, 3/2025. Photo: Quynh Tran |
SJC gold bars at the company's headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City, 3/2025. Photo: Quynh Tran
The procuracy also determined that, motivated by personal gain, Hang purchased and supplied external raw gold to deputy workshop director Tran Tan Phat, adding it to 56 batches of damaged gold processing to illegally produce 6,255 taels of SJC gold bars. This act caused a loss of 74.8 billion VND to the state, with Hang profiting 64 billion VND.
At the same time, Hang directed Nguyen Thi Hue (director of SJC's Hai Phong branch) to purchase raw gold externally and deliver it to Phat for the illegal production of over 11,000 taels of SJC gold rings, causing a loss of 15 billion VND, with Hang personally benefiting by 6.6 billion VND.
The former SJC general director was also accused of directing Hue, Hoang Le Hue, and Tran Ngoc Minh Thu (head of SJC's gold trading department) to sell only a portion of the price-stabilized gold, profiting from the difference compared to the listed price.
Specifically, from mid-June to the end of August 2024, these units falsified lists selling 7,000 taels of price-stabilized gold to 4,342 customers. In reality, the defendants sold it externally at higher prices than the listed price, pocketing 7.2 billion VND in price differences. Hang personally profited 2.8 billion VND.
In the above three violations, Hang and her accomplices were charged with abuse of power, causing a loss of 95.7 billion VND to the state, of which Hang benefited by 73.5 billion VND.
Hai Duyen
