One defendant in the Truong My Lan case had terminal cancer and asked for exemption from punishment

On March 28, continuing the trial of the case of Truong My Lan (Chairman of the Board of Directors of Van Thinh Phat Group), the lawyer of defendant Luu Quoc Thang (former Head of SCB Bank's Control Board) conducted a defense. .

According to the lawyer, defendant Luu Quoc Thang said his client was suffering from terminal cancer and did not know whether he would live until the end of the trial or not, so he asked the Trial Council to consider waiving the penalty.

Defendant Luu Quoc Thang (former Head of SCB Bank's Control Board) was recommended by the Procuracy for a 3-year suspended prison sentence. The indictment determined that Mr. Thang did not fully and properly perform the prescribed functions and duties of the Supervisory Board and the Head of the Supervisory Board during the process of SCB granting credit to the customer group of Truong My Lan group.

Therefore, the defendant failed to detect, promptly prevent, and take measures to handle SCB's violations, leading to particularly large outstanding loans and SCB's inability to recover debt. Mr. Luu Quoc Thang's actions caused damage to SCB of more than 344,000 billion VND.

Defending him, the lawyer said that during his working time, the defendant discovered many violations at SCB. Therefore, defendant Thang made dozens of operational status reports and recommendations for the Board of Directors to direct relevant branches and departments to closely monitor customers' capital sources and debt repayment sources.

Defendant Thang also reported monitoring the customer's debt repayment because he found many due documents had not been paid; It is proposed to review the progress of some projects and real estate as collateral for loans to promptly detect errors at SCB.

Although the Supervisory Board had a series of official dispatches reporting to the Board of Directors about violations at SCB, according to lawyers, the bank's leaders all ignored them.

The lawyer presented that defendant Luu Quoc Thang had many mitigating circumstances that had not been considered. Since February 2022, Mr. Thang was diagnosed with cancer. During the treatment period, the defendant continued to make written reports of abnormalities at SCB to bank leaders. Up to now, defendant Thang has late-stage cancer, metastasized to many organs, his health is getting very bad, his life is counted day by day.

"I sincerely hope that the jury will change its opinion and consider waiving the penalty because I do not know whether the defendant will still be alive until the end of the trial or not, so that if the defendant passes away, he will no longer be guilty of a crime," the lawyer said. said and said the defendant was being treated at the hospital.

Regarding civil liability, the lawyer said he is freezing 3 assets of the defendant's family and 3 savings books of the defendant's younger brother deposited at the bank. According to the lawyer, this money was sent by Mr. Thang's younger brother to support his elderly parents, unrelated to the case. He hopes the jury will lift the blockade so the family can have money to cover their living expenses.

Holding the same position as Head of the Supervisory Board after defendant Luu Quoc Thang, defendant Pham Thu Phong was the person who was given 20 billion VND by Ms. Truong My Lan when she quit her job. The defendant's actions caused damage to SCB of more than 90,000 billion VND (after deducting collateral assets).

In court, the lawyer defending the defendant was absent and submitted a defense statement for the jury to announce. Accordingly, the lawyer asked the court to consider exempting the defendant from civil liability and reducing the penalty for Ms. Phong.

Defending himself, the defendant spoke in a low voice and choked up many times. She said her children are suffering from many diseases and need care. She hopes the jury will accept the Procuracy's request for the defendant to receive a suspended sentence.

Truong My Lan wrote a petition to reduce nearly 700 billion in court fees in phase 1. Thảo Mai17:49:39 30/10/2024It is expected that from November 4 to November 25, the High People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City will hear the first phase of the appeal of the Van Thinh Phat case to consider the appeal of defendant Truong My Lan, 47 other defendants, victims and a number of people with related...