Le Thuy Hang, the ex-CEO of Saigon Jewelry Co., was sentenced to 25 years in prison for embezzlement and the abuse of power for taking advantage of government policies related to the previous metal, VnExpress reported, citing court proceedings. SJC, as the firm is known, was the country’s only legal producer of gold bars at the time.
The report said Hang was found to be the mastermind of a scheme which prosecutors had described as involving the reprocessing of gold bars, the production of rings, and abuse of a central bank program to stabilize prices of the precious metal. The 16 defendants were accused of pocketing the price difference from diverting state-supplied bullion to private buyers at higher rates, causing losses of over 107 billion dong ($4 million) to SJC, state-run Nguoi Lao Dong reported earlier.
