In Vietnam, a court has handed down a death sentence to a property tycoon for her involvement in a $12.5 billion financial fraud case, marking the country’s largest such scandal on record.
Truong My Lan, the chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, was convicted of embezzlement, bribery, and violations of banking regulations following a trial in Ho Chi Minh City.
According to state media, her legal team now has 15 days to appeal the ruling.
Truong My Lan, aged 67, illicitly managed the Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB) from 2012 to 2022, diverting funds through numerous shell companies and offering bribes to government officials.
The alleged misappropriation of assets amounted to approximately 3 percent of Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022, with prosecutors claiming they confiscated over 1,000 properties owned by her.
Lan refuted the accusations, attributing them to her subordinates. During her closing statements in court last week, she admitted to contemplating suicide.
According to state media reports, Lan expressed her despair during the trial, admitting, “In my desperation, I thought of death.”
She expressed regret for getting involved in the complex banking sector, acknowledging her limited knowledge of it.
The court justified its severe verdict by highlighting the gravity of the case. It stated that Lan led a meticulously planned criminal operation, resulting in irreparable consequences with no chance of recovering the misappropriated funds, as reported by VnExpress state media.
The court’s judgment, as quoted by VnExpress, highlighted that Lan’s actions not only infringed upon the property rights of individuals and organisations but also forced SCB into a state of special control.
This erosion of trust in the leadership of the Party and State was deemed a significant consequence of her actions.
Lan’s arrest in October 2022 was one of the most prominent cases in an ongoing anti-corruption campaign initiated in 2016, which gained momentum in 2022.
The Blazing Furnace campaign, as it’s dubbed, has reached the uppermost levels of Vietnamese politics, resulting in the resignation of two presidents and two prime ministers in recent years, along with the disciplining or imprisonment of hundreds of officials.
Lan’s husband, Eric Chu Nap-Kee, a Hong Kong investor, was among the 86 individuals on trial, accused of orchestrating fake loan applications to illicitly withdraw funds from the Saigon bank, of which Lan held a 90 percent stake.
Lan’s niece, Truong Hue Van, who served as the CEO of Van Thinh Phat, also faced trial as a key figure in the case.
According to Thanh Nien newspaper, 84 defendants in the trial received sentences ranging from three years of probation to life imprisonment.
Michael Tatarski, host of the Vietnam Weekly podcast in Ho Chi Minh City, noted that Lan and her family have maintained a remarkably low profile despite their considerable wealth, with scant public information or images available of them.
“Some details are beginning to surface now, but there’s very little known about how she amassed such immense wealth. They operate in a very secretive manner despite their significant influence,” he told Al Jazeera.
Tatarski emphasized that this case ranks among the largest financial crimes globally, not just in Vietnam.
As a result, previously unseen levels of corruption are being exposed and examined by state media.
“I think it’s evident that there’s a genuine intent to tackle corruption here,” he remarked.
“While there may be some political motivations behind certain actions, there’s also an undeniable presence of widespread corruption and fraud that requires addressing.”
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