In a groundbreaking development, Vietnam has witnessed the largest case of fraud in its history, as a property tycoon has been sentenced to death for her involvement in a staggering $12.5 billion financial fraud case. Truong My Lan, the chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, was found guilty of embezzlement, bribery, and violations of banking rules in a trial held in Ho Chi Minh City. This case marks a significant milestone in the ongoing state anticorruption drive.
Lan, aged 67, illicitly controlled the Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank from 2012 to 2022, orchestrating the siphoning of funds through a network of ghost companies and by bribing government officials. The value of her alleged asset appropriation amounted to approximately 3 percent of Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022. Prosecutors have seized over 1,000 properties belonging to Lan as part of the investigation.
Throughout the trial, Lan denied the charges against her, instead shifting blame onto her subordinates. In her final remarks to the court, she expressed thoughts of suicide, stating her anger at being foolish enough to involve herself in the complex and cutthroat banking sector, an industry she claimed to have little knowledge of.
Lan’s arrest in October 2022 was a high-profile event, occurring within the context of the ongoing anticorruption campaign known as the Blazing Furnace. This campaign has targeted corruption at the highest levels of Vietnamese politics, resulting in the resignation of two presidents and two prime ministers in recent years, as well as the disciplining and imprisonment of numerous officials.
Michael Tatarski, host of the Vietnam Weekly podcast based in Ho Chi Minh City, highlighted the obscurity surrounding Lan and her family, despite their immense wealth. Limited information and public images of the family have been available until now. Tatarski emphasized that this case represents one of the largest financial crimes in world history, underscoring the need for transparency and accountability in combating corruption.
2 Responses
This is absolutely outrageous! How can someone be involved in a $12.5 billion financial fraud and only be sentenced to death? This is not justice, it’s a slap on the wrist. The scale of this fraud is mind-boggling, and the fact that it happened in Vietnam, a country that is striving for economic growth and development, is even more disheartening.
It is clear that this property tycoon took advantage of the system and manipulated it for personal gain. The impact of
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Source:
– “Vietnam sentences property tycoon to death for fraud” – Reuters (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vietnam-property-fraud-idUSKBN1ZD0ZJ)