Berjaya’s hope to recoup US$10mil dims after Vietnam court upholds verdict

Companies that provide short-term consumer loans at high interest rates are on the increase in countries like Indonesia and the Philippines as many people struggle to get advances through traditional channels such as banks.

HANOI: A court has upheld a key judgement in Vietnam’s biggest-ever fraud case, a victim’s lawyer told Reuters, in a trial that has spotlighted the country’s ability to tackle financial crime at a time when foreign banks are heeding government calls to invest.

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s High Court ruled yesterday to uphold a judgment that the central perpetrator of a 4.9 trillion dong (US$215mil) theft is responsible for returning some of the stolen money, rather than the individual’s employer at the time, state-controlled VietinBank.