The Hanoi People’s Court on Monday sentenced to life imprisonment a former official of Agrigank, Vietnam’s leading lender, for borrowing more than US$410,000 from the bank’s customers and not paying it back.

 

According to the indictment, between December 2006 and July 2007, Le Bao Ngoc abused his position to borrow nearly VND8 billion from customers of an Agribank branch in Hanoi.

 

The 32-year-old lured the customers by paying high interest rates of 8-30 percent a month for the first several months and defaulting on the payments later.

 

Prosecutors had suggested an 18 or 20 year jail term but the judges said Ngoc had not returned any money to the lenders, and deserved the longest possible jail term.