Vietnam tries 59 over bank scandal
HANOI - Fifty-nine people have gone on trial in the
Vietnamese southern city of Ho Chi Minh
charged with bank fraud involving nearly
$100m.
Reports in the state-controlled media say the
defendants are facing charges of embezzling
state assets and violating commercial law.
Several hundred people and organisations are
expected to be involved in the court case -
expected to last a month - including those
who suffered as a result of the fraud.
The case comes as Vietnam takes another
step towards reforming its financial and legal
systems.
Extensive cast list
The 59 people on trial include bankers and
business people, although a key figure in the
fraud - the former head of the semi-private
bank, Tran Tuan Tai - died in 1997.
Prosecutors are alleging that Mr Tai and others
embezzled billions of dong from the mainly
Chinese-owned bank Viet Hoa.
The accused allegedly took money from
branches of the bank and used letters of credit
for loans which were never repaid.
The alleged fraud was just one of the problems
of the boom 90s which have left Vietnam's
banking system with big debts.
The large ethnic Chinese community in Ho Chi
Minh rushed to withdraw money from the Viet
Hoa bank after Mr Tai's death, weakening it
further.
Vietnam's Communist authorities have since
revoked the bank's licence as part of financial
sector reforms.
Endemic graft
The court case demonstrates the efforts of
Vietnamese authorities to be seen to be taking
action against corruption in one of the world's
most corrupt countries.
It also highlights the problems ahead.
This week, legal authorities completed a
year-long review of the legal system to
identify reform targets for the next decade.
At a workshop attended by major international
donors, Justice Minister Nguyen Dinh Loc said
almost everybody working in the legal system
needed to be retrained to deal with Vietnam's
move towards a market economy.
The review identified key areas for reform -
the courts are not independent and information
about the law is not readily available.
On the positive side, Vietnam has made
progress in setting up law schools and training
programmes.
There has also been a shift in the way laws
are made.
No longer are they simply announcements by
the Communist Party. Increasingly legislation is
developed by Vietnam's parliament, the
National Assembly.
By Clare Arthurs - BBC News - April 11, 2002.
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