Vietnam's PNJ, embroiled in diamond-smuggling fraud, owes more than VND 500 billion to Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank and Woori Bank

[HANOI, Vietnam—Correspondent Kim Jun-seok] PNJ, a major Vietnamese jewelry and gemstone company that posted its largest quarterly loss on record following a large-scale diamond-smuggling and appraisal-certificate falsification case, is currently borrowing VND 541 billion (about KRW 28.2 billion) in short-term funds from three Korean-affiliated banks operating in Vietnam: Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank and Woori Bank.
According to local media reports on the 2nd, PNJ said in its recently disclosed financial statements for the second quarter of 2026 that, as of June 30, it had outstanding short-term borrowings totaling VND 3.989 trillion (about KRW 208.5 billion) from nine banks.
During the first half of this year, PNJ raised VND 7.819 trillion (about KRW 408.6 billion) in new borrowings and repaid VND 8.053 trillion (about KRW 402.9 billion), slightly reducing its total short-term borrowings from the end of the previous year.
Of the total borrowings, VND 3.353 trillion (about KRW 175.2 billion), or 84.1%, was concentrated in Vietnam's three major state-owned commercial banks: Vietcombank, BIDV and VietinBank. Vietcombank was the largest lender, providing VND 1.425 trillion (about KRW 74.4 billion), or 35.7% of the total borrowings. It was followed by BIDV with approximately VND 1 trillion (about KRW 52.2 billion, 25.0%) and VietinBank with VND 928 billion (about KRW 48.5 billion, 23.3%).
Among Korean-affiliated banks, PNJ borrowed VND 200 billion (about KRW 10.4 billion) from Shinhan Bank Vietnam, VND 180 billion (about KRW 9.4 billion) from Hana Bank's Ho Chi Minh City branch, and VND 161 billion (about KRW 8.4 billion) from Woori Bank Vietnam. It also had short-term borrowings from ACB, Siam Commercial Bank, Kasikornbank and HSBC.
According to the notes to the financial statements, the annual interest rates on PNJ's short-term borrowings ranged from 6.0% to 7.7%. Most of the loans mature in August and September this year, while the Hana Bank borrowings mature at the end of November.
Meanwhile, PNJ posted a net loss of VND 283 billion (about KRW 14.7 billion) in the second quarter of this year, marking its largest quarterly deficit since listing. This contrasted with the VND 427 billion (about KRW 22.3 billion) in net profit it recorded during the same period last year.
The main cause of the deteriorating performance was a diamond-smuggling case that occurred between 2023 and 2026 and involved a former executive of PNJ Lab, a subsidiary. As a result, PNJ recognized VND 865 billion (about KRW 45.2 billion) in provisions for losses related to large-scale refunds in its second-quarter results in July. The provisions caused selling and administrative expenses to surge by more than VND 1 trillion (about KRW 52.2 billion), significantly eroding operating profit.
Meanwhile, Shinhan Bank suspended additional loan disbursements immediately after becoming aware of the case and received full repayment of its existing loans on August 28. A credit limit of USD 7.7 million remains in place, but the bank has notified PNJ of its plan to terminate the limit.
[email protected] Kim Jun-seok Reporter