The information currently available is only one-sided.

Lawyer in the case involving a debt of nearly 8.55 million VND and a debt of over 8.8 billion VND: The information currently available is only one-sided. — Headquarters of the Export-Import Bank branch in Quang Ninh . Photo: Nguyen Hung

Lawyer Ta Anh Tuan (Director of Emme Law Co., Ltd., Hanoi Bar Association) - who represents Mr. Pham Huy Anh (residing in Bai Chay Ward, Ha Long City, Quang Ninh Province) who is being pursued by the Export-Import Commercial Bank (Eximbank) for a debt of over 8.83 billion VND - said that there are many issues that need to be investigated and clarified, from the issuance of the card to the withdrawal process...

Specifically, the bank claims to have repeatedly called and sent official letters demanding that Mr. Pham Huy Anh repay the debt, but he denies receiving any of them.

“We and our client are preparing the procedures to work with Eximbank in order to obtain a multi-faceted perspective and view the issue from multiple angles. Currently, we only have initial and one-sided information, as reflected in the press,” said lawyer Ta Anh Tuan.

The lawyers and their client are expected to work with Eximbank next week.

As reported by Lao Dong newspaper, Mr. Pham Huy Anh (residing in Bai Chay ward, Ha Long city, Quang Ninh province) was notified by Eximbank of an outstanding debt of 8.55 million VND from 2013, and after 11 years of non-payment, the total outstanding debt has now reached over 8.83 billion VND.

Speaking to the press, Mr. Huy Anh stated that in March 2013, he asked an employee at the Eximbank branch in Quang Ninh to create a credit card for him, but he did not actually receive the card.

Four years later (in 2017), when he needed to borrow money from the bank, he was shocked to discover that he had bad debt with Eximbank. Therefore, he proactively went to the Eximbank Quang Ninh branch to verify and was informed that he had already signed for the card.

When Mr. Huy Anh asked why he wasn't immediately notified when interest and interest charges arose, and why his card application included an additional phone number that wasn't his, the bank replied that they had tried contacting the non-identifiable number but were unsuccessful. Mr. Huy Anh also asked why they didn't contact him using his other phone number, which he was still using, but the bank couldn't provide an answer…

According to Mr. Huy Anh, he proposed returning the principal of 10 million VND from the credit card and paying an additional 10 million VND as a penalty fee, even though he had never spent this money and was unaware of the existence of the credit card. However, the bank refused, insisting on full payment of both principal and interest, which amounted to over 63 million VND.

After numerous meetings, the two sides could not agree on a solution, and by the end of 2023, the total amount of debt that the bank demanded Mr. Pham Huy Anh to repay had reached over 8.83 billion VND.

The Inspectorate of the State Bank of Vietnam, Quang Ninh Branch, is currently requesting Eximbank's Quang Ninh Branch to submit a written report on the incident.

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