On April 11, Vietnamese real estate tycoon Truong My Lan received a death sentence in the country’s largest-ever financial fraud case. The court found her guilty of fraud amounting to $27 billion.
A specially selected panel of three jurors and two judges unanimously dismissed all defense arguments presented by Truong My Lan, the chairperson of prominent real estate firm Van Thinh Phat. Lan was convicted of embezzling funds from the Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a period of ten years.
A Vietnamese billionaire has been handed the death sentence for one of the biggest bank frauds the world has ever seen.
Truong My Lan has been convicted of taking out $44bn in loans from Saigon Commercial Bank – the equivalent of 3% of Vietnam’s GDP in 2022. pic.twitter.com/SieIfgJsUw
— Metro (@MetroUK) April 11, 2024
The verdict, delivered during the trial in Ho Chi Minh City, emphasized that the actions of the defendant, Truong My Lan, had a detrimental impact on the public’s confidence in the leadership of both the Communist Party and the state.
Truong My Lan, the accused, vehemently denied the charges, shifting the blame onto her subordinates. Following a lengthy five-week trial in the bustling business center of Ho Chi Minh City, 85 additional individuals await their verdicts and sentencing.
The charges against them span a wide spectrum, including bribery, abuse of power, appropriation, and violations of banking law.
Truong My Lan embezzled a staggering $12.5 billion, but prosecutors have now revealed that the overall damages resulting from the scam have escalated to an astounding $27 billion. This astronomical sum represents approximately six percent of Vietnam’s 2023 GDP.
“In my desperation, I thought of death,” she said, according to state media.
“I am so angry that I was stupid enough to get involved in this very fierce business environment — the banking sector — which I have little knowledge of.”
Hundreds of people took to the streets in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, a rare occurrence in the one-party communist state, following the arrest of Truong My Lan in October 2022.
Truong My Lan, the central figure in this staggering corruption scandal, has left a trail of devastation affecting approximately 42,000 victims.
The revelations surrounding her fraudulent activities have sent shockwaves through Vietnam, a country where such high-profile cases are relatively rare.
Lan, a prominent Vietnamese property tycoon, is married to a wealthy Hong Kong businessman who is also on trial. Her modus operandi involved fabricating loan applications within Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), an institution where she held an astounding 90 percent stake.
Through these deceptive applications, she managed to illegally withdraw funds from the bank, leaving countless bondholders in financial turmoil.
According to authorities, the victims of this elaborate scam are exclusively SCB bondholders. These individuals find themselves in a dire situation: they cannot withdraw their funds and have not received any interest or principal payments since Truong My Lan’s arrest.
During the trial, prosecutors revealed that they had confiscated over 1,000 properties owned by Lan.
Additionally, authorities disclosed that Lan and certain SCB bankers allegedly provided a staggering $5.2 million bribe to state officials in an attempt to conceal the bank’s violations and dire financial condition. Remarkably, this bribe is the largest-ever recorded in Vietnam.
Do Thi Nhan, the former head of the State Bank of Vietnam’s inspection team, testified during the trial that she was offered the bribe. The cash was delivered to her in Styrofoam boxes by the former CEO of SCB, Vo Tan Van.
Upon realizing that the boxes contained money, Nhan refused to accept them. However, Van insisted on leaving the boxes with her, as reported by state media.
Since 2021, Vietnam has been relentless in its fight against corruption, resulting in the indictment of over 4,400 individuals across more than 1,700 graft cases. Among those facing justice is Do Anh Dung, a prominent Vietnamese luxury property tycoon and the head of the Tan Hoang Minh group.
Recently, Dung received a lengthy prison sentence of eight years after being found guilty of orchestrating a massive $355 million bond scam that duped thousands of investors.
ALSO READ | Sierra Leone declared national emergency after addicts dig up graves to get high on drugs