Vietnam sentences real estate tycoon to death in its largest-ever fraud case : NPR

Businesswoman Zhang Meilan (front center) attends the trial in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Thursday, April 11, 2024.

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Qingdong/Associated Press

Businesswoman Zhang Meilan (front center) attends the trial in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Thursday, April 11, 2024.

Qingdong/Associated Press

HANOI, Vietnam – Real estate tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced to death by a court in southern Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday in the country’s largest ever financial fraud case, state media outlet Vietnam.com reported.

The 67-year-old chairman of real estate company Van Thinh Phat has been formally accused of defrauding US$12.5 billion, equivalent to nearly 3% of the country’s 2022 GDP.

According to state media VnExpress, Lan illegally controlled Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank between 2012 and 2022 and issued 2,500 loans, causing the bank to lose US$27 billion. The court ordered her to pay $26.9 million in compensation to the bank.

Despite mitigating circumstances – it was a first-time offence, and Lan participated in charity events – the court attributed the harsh sentence to the seriousness of the case, saying Lan was the head of a well-planned and sophisticated criminal syndicate that had caused serious consequences. consequences, and there were no serious consequences. VnExpress said the money could potentially be recovered.

VnExpress quoted the verdict as saying that her actions “not only violated the property management rights of individuals and organizations, but also put Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank into a state of special control; eroding people’s trust in the party and state leadership.” explain.

Her niece, Van Thinh Phat CEO Truong Hue Van, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for helping her aunt, while Lan’s husband, Eric Chu Nap-kee from Hong Kong, was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Lan and her family founded Van Thing Phat in 1992 after Vietnam abandoned its state-run economy and moved toward a more market-oriented economy open to foreigners. She started out by helping her mother, a Chinese entrepreneur, sell cosmetics at Ho Chi Minh City’s oldest market, according to state media outlet Tien Phong.

Van Thinh Phat will grow into one of Vietnam’s wealthiest real estate companies, with projects including luxury residential towers, offices, hotels and shopping malls. This makes her a key figure in the country’s financial industry. In 2011, she orchestrated the merger of troubled Standard Chartered with two other banks, in coordination with Vietnam’s central bank.

The court found that she used this method to obtain cash from Standard Chartered Bank. According to government documents, she indirectly owned more than 90% of the bank (a charge she denies) and approved thousands of loans to “ghost companies.” The loans were later returned to her, state media outlet VnExpress reported, citing the court’s findings.

She then bribed officials to cover her tracks, the report added.

Former central bank official Do Thi Nhan was also sentenced to life in prison on Thursday for accepting $5.2 million in bribes.

Lan’s arrest in October 2022 was one of the most high-profile incidents in Vietnam’s intensifying anti-corruption campaign since 2022. The so-called “furnace” movement has reached the highest levels of Vietnamese politics. Former President Vo Van Hiang resigned in March over his involvement in the election campaign.

Danlan’s trial shocked the nation. Analysts said the scale of the scam raised questions about whether other banks or businesses had made similar mistakes, undermining Vietnam’s economic prospects and putting foreign investors in a country that has been trying to position themselves as trying to divert. The ideal home for businesses that supply the occasion is stressful. Stay away from the Chinese chain.

Vietnam’s real estate industry has been particularly hard hit. With an estimated 1,300 property companies expected to exit the market in 2023, developers have been offering discounts and gifts of gold to lure buyers, even as rents for mixed-use properties known as shophouses in Southeast Asia fell by a third in Ho Chi Minh City One, but many developers said the city center remained empty, state media reported.

In November, Vietnam’s top politician, Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, said the fight against corruption would “continue for a long time.”