Current:Home > MyVietnam sentences real estate tycoon Truong My Lan to death in its largest-ever fraud case -AssetLink
Vietnam sentences real estate tycoon Truong My Lan to death in its largest-ever fraud case
View
Date:2025-04-18 03:41:26
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Real estate tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced Thursday to death by a court in Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam in the country’s largest financial fraud case ever, state media Vietnam Net said.
The 67-year-old chair of the real estate company Van Thinh Phat was formally charged with fraud amounting to $12.5 billion — nearly 3% of the country’s 2022 GDP.
Lan illegally controlled Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank between 2012 and 2022 and allowed 2,500 loans that resulted in losses of $27 billion to the bank, reported state media VnExpress. The court asked her to compensate the bank $26.9 million.
Despite mitigating circumstances — this was a first-time offense and Lan participated in charity activities — the court attributed its harsh sentence to the seriousness of the case, saying Lan was at the helm of an orchestrated and sophisticated criminal enterprise that had serious consequences with no possibility of the money being recovered, VnExpress said.
Her actions “not only violate the property management rights of individuals and organizations but also push SCB (Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank) into a state of special control; eroding people’s trust in the leadership of the Party and State,” VnExpress quoted the judgement as saying.
Her niece, Truong Hue Van, the chief executive of Van Thinh Phat, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for aiding her aunt.
Lan and her family established the Van Thing Phat company in 1992 after Vietnam shed its state-run economy in favor of a more market-oriented approach that was open to foreigners. She had started out helping her mother, a Chinese businesswoman, to sell cosmetics in Ho Chi Minh City’s oldest market, according to state media Tien Phong.
Van Thinh Phat would grow to become one of Vietnam’s richest real estate firms, with projects including luxury residential buildings, offices, hotels and shopping centers. This made her a key player in the country’s financial industry. She orchestrated the 2011 merger of the beleaguered SCB bank with two other lenders in coordination with Vietnam’s central bank.
The court found that she used this approach to tap SCB for cash. She indirectly owned more than 90% of the bank — a charge she denied — and approved thousands of loans to “ghost companies,” according to government documents. These loans then found their way back to her, state media VNExpress reported, citing the court’s findings.
She then bribed officials to cover her tracks, it added.
Former central bank official Do Thi Nhan was also sentenced Thursday to life in prison for accepting $5.2 million in bribes.
Lan’s arrest in October 2022 was among the most high-profile in an ongoing anti-corruption drive in Vietnam that has intensified since 2022. The so-called Blazing Furnace campaign has touched the highest echelons of Vietnamese politics. Former President Vo Van Thuong resigned in March after being implicated in the campaign.
But Lan’s trial shocked the nation. Analysts said the scale of the scam raised questions about whether other banks or businesses had similarly erred, dampening Vietnam’s economic outlook and making foreign investors jittery at a time when Vietnam has been trying to position itself as the ideal home for businesses trying to pivot their supply chains away from China.
The real estate sector in Vietnam has been hit particularly hard. An estimated 1,300 property firms withdrew from the market in 2023, developers have been offering discounts and gold as gifts to attract buyers, and despite rents for shophouses falling by a third in Ho Chi Minh City, many in the city center are still empty, according to state media.
In November, Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam’s top politician, said that the anti-corruption fight would “continue for the long term.”
veryGood! (55)
Related
- What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
- Joe Jonas Returns to the Stage After Sophie Turner’s Lawsuit Filing
- Medicaid expansion to begin soon in North Carolina as governor decides to let budget bill become law
- 2 arrested in drive-by attack at New Mexico baseball stadium that killed 11-year-old boy
- JoJo Siwa reflects on Candace Cameron Bure feud: 'If I saw her, I would not say hi'
- Fulton County DA investigator accidentally shoots herself at courthouse
- Zendaya Sets the Record Straight on Tom Holland Engagement Rumors
- Consumer group says Mastercard is selling cardholders' data without their knowledge
- British golfer Charley Hull blames injury, not lack of cigarettes, for poor Olympic start
- NFL rookie quarterbacks Bryce Young, Anthony Richardson out for Week 3
Ranking
- Eva Mendes Shares Message of Gratitude to Olympics for Keeping Her and Ryan Gosling's Kids Private
- Critics of North Carolina school athletics governing body pass bill ordering more oversight
- US wage growth is finally outpacing inflation. Many Americans aren't feeling it.
- Ejected pilot of F-35 that went missing told 911 dispatcher he didn't know where fighter jet was
- Kourtney Kardashian Cradles 9-Month-Old Son Rocky in New Photo
- Ex-FBI agent pleads guilty to concealing $225K loan from former Albanian official
- 'Welcome to freedom': Beagles rescued from animal testing lab in US get new lease on life in Canada
- Column: Coach Prime dominates the college football world. What might come next?
Recommendation
Golf's No. 1 Nelly Korda looking to regain her form – and her spot on the Olympic podium
'I ejected': Pilot of crashed F-35 jet in South Carolina pleads for help in phone call
AP Week in Pictures: Latin America and Caribbean
Consumer group says Mastercard is selling cardholders' data without their knowledge
Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
Authorities search for suspect wanted in killing who was mistakenly released from Indianapolis jail
Watch what happens after these seal pups get tangled in a net and are washed on shore
Actor Matt Walsh stepping away from Dancing with the Stars until WGA strike is resolved