17-10-2024 (HANOI) Property tycoon Truong My Lan faces the prospect of a life sentence as she returns to court on Thursday, 17 October, for a verdict in a complex money laundering case. This trial follows her shocking death sentence in April for orchestrating a staggering US$27 billion fraud scheme, one of the largest corruption cases in the nation’s history.
Lan, the chair of the prominent real estate firm Van Thinh Phat, was convicted earlier this year of masterminding an elaborate swindle involving the Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), an institution she allegedly controlled. The scale of the fraud, equivalent to approximately 6% of Vietnam’s 2023 GDP, sent shockwaves through the communist nation and sparked rare public demonstrations by affected investors.
As Lan and 33 co-defendants, including close family members, were escorted to the Ho Chi Minh City courthouse in a heavily guarded police convoy, the atmosphere was tense with anticipation. The property mogul, masked and flanked by officers, sat at the forefront of the courtroom, awaiting the culmination of a four-week trial that has gripped the nation.
Prosecutors have pushed for a life sentence for Lan on multiple charges, including money laundering, illegal cross-border cash trafficking, and fraud. The case has unveiled a complex web of financial misconduct, with state media reporting that Lan and her associates siphoned off around US$18 billion from SCB between early 2018 and October 2022, leveraging her effective 90% stake in the bank.
The human cost of this financial catastrophe is starkly illustrated by the plight of victims like Nguyen Thi Huong, an online noodle seller who lost her entire life savings of US$20,000. “When I learned that I had lost all the money I had deposited at SCB Bank, I felt like I was losing my mind,” Huong told AFP, detailing the devastating personal and familial consequences of the fraud.
The case has exposed deep-seated issues within Vietnam’s financial system and has prompted calls for greater oversight and reform. As the trial commenced, dozens of victims staged protests in central Hanoi, demanding government intervention to recover their lost funds.
Lan, who previously apologised to her victims and claimed she was “not a bad person,” is also appealing her April death sentence for embezzling US$12.5 billion. The outcome of this appeal remains pending, with no date set for the hearing.
