Vietnam issues arrest warrants for ex-Sacombank executives in wider bank fraud case

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnamese police said on Tuesday they had issued arrest warrants for two former executives of Sacombank for their involvement in a wider bank fraud case that dates back to 2014.

Tram Be, 58, a former vice chairman of Sacombank, one of Vietnam's biggest banks by assets, and Phan Huy Khang, 44, a former Sacombank CEO, were among 16 people issued with arrest warrants on Monday, the police ministry said in a statement.

Be and Khang were among 25 people accused of "deliberately acting against the state's regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences" the police said, without elaborating.

It was not clear whether they had actually been arrested and their whereabouts were not known.

The government news website said that the arrest warrants for Be and Khang were related to a fraud case at Construction Bank, which has drawn in executives at other banks and already led to the imprisonment of some executives including Construction Bank's former chairman, who received a 30-year prison sentence for illegally withdrawing more than $390 million.

The fraud investigation is part of a banking reform in Vietnam, which has seen bank restructuring as well as stricter lending and debt classification rules and other measures to cut bad loans.

The executives' arrest warrants also come amid a widespread crackdown on corruption initiated by Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong that has pushed many state executives and government officials into the spotlight.

The central bank took over loss-making Construction Bank in 2015 as part of the reforms and in an effort to stabilise the financial sector. It also approved a merger between Sacombank and Phuong Nam Bank in 2015.

Earlier this year, the central bank removed Tram Be and his son Tram Khai Hoa from Ho Chi Minh-based Sacombank's board as part of the banking reform, officially ending their direct involvement in the lender's management.

(Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Susan Fenton)