In a landmark trial that has captivated Vietnam, real estate tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced to death on Thursday, April 11, for looting one of the country’s largest banks over a period of 11 years.
The 66-year-old chair of the Van Thinh Phat real estate company faced the court over allegations of orchestrating one of the largest financial frauds in the country’s history, using a network of ghost companies and bribery to embezzle funds.
The decision shows how big the fraud was. Truong My Lan got $44 billion (£35 billion) in loans from the Saigon Commercial Bank and now has to pay back $27 billion. But it’s uncertain if that money will ever be returned. Some people think the death penalty is the court’s way of making her give back some of the stolen money.
Lan’s trial, which began on Tuesday, revealed the extent of her illicit activities, including the illegal control of the Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB) between 2012 and 2022. The prosecution accused Lan of disbursing loans worth billions to herself and her associates, leading to significant financial losses and impacting thousands of individuals and businesses.
The trial was the most dramatic chapter so far in the “Blazing Furnaces” anti-corruption campaign led by the Communist Party Secretary-General, Nguyen Phu Trong.
According to prosecutors, over a period of three years, starting in February 2019, she ordered her driver to withdraw 108 trillion Vietnamese dong, more than $4bn (£2.3bn) in cash from the bank, and store it in her basement.
That much cash, even if all of it was in Vietnam’s largest denomination banknotes, would weigh two tonnes.
She was also accused of bribing generously to ensure her loans were never scrutinised. One of those who was tried used to be a chief inspector at the central bank, who was accused of accepting a $5m bribe.
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