Portugal Colonial - Vietnam jails former officials over gold bar graft: state media

State-owned Saigon Jewelry Company (SJC) has maintained a monopoly on gold bullion production in Vietnam since 2012.

But the State Bank of Vietnam announced in August that it will allow qualified commercial banks and enterprises to churn out gold bars starting October 10, replacing the former state-exclusive mechanism.

The court ruled on Tuesday that SJC's former CEO, Le Thuy Hang, had pocketed $2.7 million and caused a loss of $4 million to state coffers and SJC "through a series of fraudulent schemes", according to state media.

At the end of a five-day trial in Ho Chi Minh City, Hang was sentenced to prison for 25 years for property embezzlement and abuse of power, the report said.

Her 15 accomplices -- all SJC staff -- were given prison terms ranging from two years, suspended, to more than 22 years on the same charges.

Between 2021 and 2024, Hang directed her subordinates to inflate the loss rate when processing 10 tonnes of SJC-branded gold bars, appropriating nearly 3.6 kilograms of gold.

They falsified documents to legalise the surplus gold and sold it for personal gain, according to the report.

The court also said that while handling dented gold bars assigned by the central bank to process, Hang had around 235 kilograms of SJC gold bars and tens of thousands of gold rings illegally manufactured and sold for profit.

Hang also ordered her staff to create a fake customer list to smuggle out about 34 kilograms of gold.

"The defendants had conducted very sophisticated acts, bypassing the tight monitor by the State Bank of Vietnam," VNExpress said, quoting the verdict.

"They had abused state policy and their power to violate the state gold management mechanism, causing instability to the market."

The defendants were ordered to pay back a total of about 640 kilograms of gold to the state, the court ruled.

Families and businesses in Vietnam have long relied on the precious metal as a store of value, personal savings and a hedge against currency depreciation.

Its price in Vietnam is typically higher than the global trading price due to local taxes and market distortions.

F.Ferraz--PC