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Vietnamese Property Tycoon Faces Death Penalty in $1.25 Billion Embezzlement Case

Published: 11 April 2024 at 04:51

Business

Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, and 85 others, including former central bankers and ex-government officials, face trial verdicts in Ho Chi Minh City for embezzling $1.25 billion from Saigon Commercial Bank. Lan denies charges and prosecutors seek the death penalty. The case is part of a national corruption crackdown affecting Vietnam's business elite. Lan's arrest led to protests in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Police have identified 42,000 victims in the scandal, where Lan is accused of setting up fake loan applications to withdraw money from SCB.

DEEP DIVE


Trương Mỹ Lan (Wikipedia)


Trương Mỹ Lan (Chinese: 張美蘭; born 1958 or 1957) is a Vietnamese businesswoman of Chinese heritage. She is the founder of Van Thinh Phat Group, a real estate development group. In October 2022 she was arrested for fake loan applications to embezzle more than $12.5 billion from Sai Gon Joint Stock Commercial Bank, which she controlled through more than 2 dozen middlemen. This caused a bank run.In March 2024, the trial for embezzlement, bribery, and violating banking regulations began. It is considered the largest corruption scandal in Southeast Asia's history. On April 11 she was sentenced to death.

Vietnam's President Vo Van Thuong Resigns Amid Political Turmoil


President Vo Van Thuong of Vietnam has resigned after being accused of violating party rules and damaging the reputation of the Communist Party and the State. His resignation is believed to be linked to a corruption scandal in his home province. This abrupt departure, following the resignation of the previous president over corruption as well, highlights challenges in addressing widespread graft in Vietnam's fast-growing economy. The political crisis may impact foreign investor confidence, with concerns over the anti-corruption campaign's impact on leadership stability.

State Bank of Vietnam (Wikipedia)


The State Bank of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Ngân hàng Nhà nước Việt Nam) is the central bank of Vietnam. It currently holds an about 65% stake of VietinBank, the country's largest listed bank by capital.In 2024, a former State Bank of Vietnam official accused of accepting $5.2 million in bribes faced trial in conjunction with the 2022 arrest of Trương Mỹ Lan and the near failure of Sai Gon Joint Stock Commercial Bank.

Sai Gon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (Wikipedia)


Sai Gon Joint Stock Commercial Bank, or Saigon Commercial Bank, abbreviated as SCB, is the largest commercial bank in Vietnam by assets, founded in 2012 and headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City. It was founded by the fusion of 3 small banks and was controlled by businesswoman and real estate developer Trương Mỹ Lan. From 2012 until 2022 SCB issued Lan 93% of its loan portfolio, more than 2,500 loans worth over $44 billion.Her defrauding $11.5 billion and corruption is considered the largest fraud scandal in Southeast Asia's history and led to her arrest in 2022, causing a bank run. The bank is since under state control.

Vietnam's President Resigns Amid Anti-Corruption Campaign


Vietnam's president has resigned in the ruling Communist Party's anti-corruption campaign, with Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan named acting president, marking a rare instance of a woman ascending to a top political post in the country. The turnover in leadership, driven by the anti-graft campaign and internal rivalries, may impact Vietnam's political stability and its fast-growing economy heavily dependent on exports and foreign investment. The crackdown has led to the resignation of two presidents in less than two years, raising concerns about the country's future leadership and political uncertainty.

Vietinbank (Wikipedia)


The Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietnamese: Ngân hàng Thương mại Cổ phần Công thương Việt Nam), trading as Vietinbank, is a state-owned Vietnamese bank. As of 2023, it is Vietnam's second-largest bank, with VND 1,800 trillion (around $76 billion) of assets under management.According to the VNR500 (Top 500) ranking, Vietinbank is Vietnam's 13th largest company. It has a market capitalisation of VND 53.22 trillion (around $2.5 billion) as of late 2012, making it one of Vietnam's largest listed companies.Major customers with loans of several hundreds of millions of dollars include PetroVietnam and Vietnam Electricity (EVN). Vietinbank also has strategic partnerships with the International Finance Corporation and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

Billboard Vietnam (Wikipedia)


Billboard Việt Nam was an online Vietnamese music magazine, owned by Purpose Media Company Limited in partnership with Billboard and owned by Vạn Thịnh Phát Group. Since the arrest of Van Thinh Phat's CEO, Trương Mỹ Lan in late 2022 for $12.5 billion fraud it has become inactive.

List of banks in Vietnam (Wikipedia)


This is the list of banks in Vietnam, as of 2019.

Lan Xang (Wikipedia)


Lan Xang ([lâːn sâːŋ]) or Lancang was a Lao kingdom that held the area of present-day Laos from 1353 to 1707. For three and a half centuries, Lan Xang was one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. The kingdom is the basis for Laos's national historic and cultural identity.

Ho Chi Minh City Television (Wikipedia)


Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTV; Vietnamese: Đài Truyền hình Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh) is a Vietnamese television network owned by the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam's Viettel to develop semiconductor industry, prime minister says


HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has asked military-run telecom company Viettel to develop the semiconductor chip industry in a "more efficient and diverse manner", the government quoted him as saying late on Tuesday. Several global electronics and semiconductor firm including Intel, Samsung, Amkor, Qualcomm and Marvell have facilities in Vietnam, which has said it wants to set up its first fab by the end of this decade. Reuters reported last year that Vietnam may support local firms such as Viettel to build fabs with imported equipment. "Semiconductor chip manufacturing capabilities are currently limited to very few regions in the world and Vietnam is determined to pursue and develop the semiconductor industry, build an ecosystem for this industry," the government cited Chinh as saying in the statement. "Products developed by Viettel have been and will contribute to creating a foundation to build a self-reliant industry in Vietnam.

Havana Syndrome in Vietnam: Possible Russian role in attack on Americans, according to new evidence


By Brit McCandless Farmer March 31, 2024 / 7:43 PM EDT / CBS News U.S. officials in Vietnam were injured in a Havana Syndrome style attack ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris's 2021 trip to Hanoi . Now, new evidence suggests Russia may have been involved and that it may have been the Vietnamese themselves who were given technology that could have caused the injuries. At the time, the U.

Vietnamese Property Tycoon Faces Death Penalty in $1.25 Billion Embezzlement Case Vietnamese Property Tycoon Faces Death Penalty in $1.25 Billion Embezzlement Case

SOURCES

BBC News

Truong My Lan: Vietnamese billionaire accused in multi-billion dollar bank fraud

https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews

NDTV

The Billionaire Facing Death Penalty In Vietnam's Biggest Fraud

NDTV

ABC News

Vietnam sentences real estate tycoon Truong My Lan to death in its largest ever fraud case

ABC News

Daily Mail

Property developer sentenced to DEATH for $12.5billion financial fraud

Afp

AP News

Vietnam sentences real estate tycoon Truong My Lan to death in its largest ever fraud case

https://apnews.com/author/aniruddha-ghosal

Al Jazeera

Vietnam tycoon Truong My Lan sentenced to death in $12.5bn fraud case

Al Jazeera

Sky News

Vietnam: Property tycoon Truong My Lan sentenced to death after country's biggest fraud trial

Sky News

Wikipedia

Trương Mỹ Lan

Wikipedia

PANORA

Vietnam's President Vo Van Thuong Resigns Amid Political Turmoil

PANORA

Wikipedia

State Bank of Vietnam

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Sai Gon Joint Stock Commercial Bank

Wikipedia

PANORA

Vietnam's President Resigns Amid Anti-Corruption Campaign

PANORA

Wikipedia

Vietinbank

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Billboard Vietnam

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

List of banks in Vietnam

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Lan Xang

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Ho Chi Minh City Television

Wikipedia

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