Trương Mỹ Lan (born 13 October 1956) is a Vietnamese businesswoman who founded the real estate development group Vạn Thịnh Phát Group, of which she is on the board of directors. A key figure in Vietnam's largest, multi-billion-dollar financial fraud, Lan was sentenced to death for embezzlement, bribery, and violations of banking regulations on 11 April 2024.[1]
Trương Mỹ Lan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 13 October 1956 |
| Occupation | Businesswoman |
| Years active | 1992–2022 |
| Title | Founder and director of Vạn Thịnh Phát Group |
| Spouse | Eric Chu Nap Kee |
| Children | 2 |
| Criminal information | |
| Years active | 2012–2022 |
| Conviction(s) | |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
Date apprehended | 6 October 2022 |
In October 2022, she was arrested for using fake loan applications to embezzle more than US$12.5 billion from Sai Gon Joint Stock Commercial Bank, which she controlled through more than two 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.[2]
Early life and education
editTrương Mỹ Lan was born on 13 October 1956, in Saigon, South Vietnam.[citation needed] Her family is of Teochew heritage, from the village of Gezhou (Chinese: 葛洲) in Shantou, Guangdong;[3][4][5] settling in "Little Gezhou" (Chinese: 浸石), Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). Her uncle founded the maritime business Hòa Thuận Phát (Chinese: 和順發) in Chợ Lớn.[4][5]
Career
editLan originally owned a business for hair accessories in Ho Chi Minh City. Using connections to the government led her to enter the real estate business.[6] In 1992,[7] she founded and chaired the board of directors of Vạn Thịnh Phát Group (Chinese: 萬盛發集團), a real estate firm for luxury residential buildings, offices, hotels, and shopping centers[8] and also financial services.[9]
From 2012 until 2022, Lan controlled Sai Gon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB), Vietnam's largest bank by assets in Ho Chi Minh City. SCB was established in 2012 from the merger of three banks facing bankruptcy in 2011;[6] nevertheless, the State Bank of Vietnam allowed the merger of these three banks, with Trương Mỹ Lan's continued control through more than two dozen middlemen, and 93 percent of loans going to her company and associated shell companies.[6]
Legal issues and convictions
edit2022 arrest
editLan was arrested on 6 October 2022 after years of investigation.[10] She was accused of illegally issuing bonds worth tens of millions of U.S. dollars in 2018 and 2019[10] and using 916 fake loan applications to appropriate more than 304 trillion dong (US$12.5 billion) from Sai Gon Joint Stock Commercial Bank,[2] of which she owned more than 90 percent of the shares, from 9 February 2018 to 7 October 2022.[9] After three SCB employees committed suicide, on 6, 9 and 14 October, a bank run ensued.[10]
The arrest and trial were considered part of the anti-corruption policy of leader Nguyễn Phú Trọng, who described it as a "blazing furnace" (đốt lò).[11]
2024 trial
editOn 5 March 2024, the trial began at the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court.[8] At US$12.5 billion, it is considered the largest corruption scandal in Southeast Asia; by comparison, the Malaysian 1MDB scandal in the 2010s involved €4.1 billion.[2]
Besides her husband and niece, there were 82 more defendants; "45 are former leaders of SCB, 15 former State Bank of Vietnam officers, three Government Inspectorate officers, and one former officer from the State Audit Office....Five of the former leaders of SCB are now in hiding."[12]
On 11 April 2024, Lan was sentenced to death by lethal injection, for embezzlement. All the other defendants were also found guilty and given sentences ranging from three years (suspended) to life imprisonment. Her husband and niece were sentenced to nine and seventeen years respectively.[11]
On 19 September 2024, state media reported that a second trial had begun in which Lan and 33 other defendants were accused of money laundering and selling illegal bonds. The suit alleges that Lan illegally transferred US$4.5 billion in and out of Vietnam between 2012 and 2022 using 21 companies controlled by Lan's real estate company.[13] On 17 October, she was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on the said charges, alongside the death sentence she had already received.[14]
Lan lost her appeal against the death sentence on 3 December 2024;[15][16][17] to avoid the death penalty and get the sentence reduced to life imprisonment, Lan must repay $11 billion, equivalent to three-quarters of the total amount she embezzled.[18]
Her lawyer, Nguyen Huy Thiep, claims that Truong's assets exceed the compensation amount, but selling them, especially real estate, requires time. The defense hopes the court will provide favorable conditions for Truong to continue her compensation efforts. However, it's unlikely that judges will be swayed by these arguments. If her appeal is rejected, Truong will be in a race against time to gather the funds before her execution. Vietnam, which keeps its death penalty statistics secret, is estimated to have over 1,000 people on death row, making it one of the world's largest executioners. Typically, there are long delays before death sentences are carried out in Vietnam, often lasting several years. If Truong manages to secure the $9 billion before her execution, there's a high probability her life will be spared.[19]
Personal life
editLan is married to Eric Chu Nap Kee (Chinese: 朱立基), a businessman in the real estate sector in Hong Kong.[20] In March 2024, her husband was also summoned to the trial,[8] as well as her niece Trương Huệ Vân, age 34, the CEO of a property management firm.[7]
Lan's family is one of the richest families in Vietnam.[21][20][22] This money has been used to contribute to multiple projects in her ancestral hometown in China.[23] Lan's embezzlement of $12.5 billion equals about three percent of Vietnam's total GDP for 2022.[9]
In March 2024, her niece, who had lived with her since childhood, admitted that she established 52 shell companies and four regular companies to obtain 155 loans at SCB.[24]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ "Vietnam tycoon gets death sentence in $12-bln fraud case". Thomson Reuters. 11 April 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
- ^ a b c Berry, Alex (1 December 2023). "Vietnam reels from historic €11.4 billion corruption scandal". dw.com. Archived from the original on 18 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
- ^ "華人寺廟會館慶賀天后聖母寶誕" [Chinese temple hall celebrates the birthday of Our Lady, Queen of Heaven]. Sài Gòn Giải Phóng (in Chinese). 20 April 2017. Archived from the original on 13 April 2024. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
- ^ a b "安老懷少 春風送暖" [Caring for the old and caring for the young, the spring breeze brings warmth]. Sài Gòn Giải Phóng (in Chinese). 27 January 2021. Archived from the original on 13 April 2024. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
- ^ a b "汕頭濠江葛洲村" [Gezhou Village, Haojiang, Shantou]. Sing Tao Daily (in Chinese). 18 March 2023. Archived from the original on 13 April 2024. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
- ^ a b c Ankenbrand, Hendrik (10 March 2024). "Die Vietnamesin, die 11 Milliarden Euro stahl" [The Vietnamese woman who stole 11 billion euros]. FAZ.NET (in German). ISSN 0174-4909. Archived from the original on 15 March 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
- ^ a b Strangio, Sebastian (6 March 2024). "Vietnam Opens Trial in $12.5 Billion Corruption Case". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 17 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ a b c Ghosal, Aniruddha (5 March 2024). "A Vietnamese property tycoon accused of embezzling $12.5 billion begins her trial". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 16 March 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
- ^ a b c "Vietnam property developer faces trial over $12.5 bn bond fraud". France 24. 18 December 2023. Archived from the original on 18 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
- ^ a b c "Authorities blame 'rumor-mongers' for Vietnam's financial fears amid scandal fallout". Radio Free Asia. 20 October 2022. Archived from the original on 18 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
- ^ a b "Truong My Lan: Vietnamese billionaire sentenced to death for $44bn fraud". BBC News. 10 April 2024. Archived from the original on 11 April 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ Tung, Thanh; Duyen, Hai (4 March 2024). "Defendants in court for $12.4B Van Thinh Phat fraud case". VnExpress. Archived from the original on 5 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ Dinh, Hau; Ghosal, Aniruddha (18 September 2024). "Vietnamese real estate tycoon, already sentenced to death for fraud, faces trial on new charges". ABC News. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "Victims of Vietnam tycoon's record scam count losses after sentence". France 24. 17 October 2024. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ "Truong My Lan: Vietnamese tycoon loses death row appeal over world's biggest bank fraud". BBC News. 2 December 2024. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
- ^ "Vietnam court upholds death sentence for tycoon in $16b fraud case". The Straits Times. Singapore. 2 December 2024.
- ^ Ratcliffe, Rebecca (3 December 2024). "Vietnamese tycoon faces scramble to raise billions to avoid death sentence". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
- ^ Ghosal, Aniruddha (4 December 2024). "Vietnam court may commute tycoon's death sentences if she repays $9 billion". Associated Press. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
- ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd753r47815o
- ^ a b "Gia tộc giàu có Trương Mỹ Lan: Bí ẩn từ 'Hồ sơ Panama' đến hồ sơ xin thôi quốc tịch Việt Nam" [The wealthy Truong My Lan family: Mystery from the 'Panama Papers' to the application to renounce Vietnamese citizenship] (in Vietnamese). Investor Newspaper. 28 October 2017. Archived from the original on 16 December 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
- ^ Khoa, Anh (23 February 2015). "10 doanh nhân ảnh hưởng lớn bất động sản Việt năm qua" [10 businessmen who greatly influenced Vietnamese real estate last year] (in Vietnamese). VnEconomy. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ^ Vũ, Phương (8 October 2022). "Trương Mỹ Lan, Chủ tịch Vạn Thịnh Phát là ai?" [Who is Truong My Lan, Chairman of Van Thinh Phat?]. CafeLand (in Vietnamese). Archived from the original on 8 October 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
- ^ "祖籍汕头濠江，这位深耕越南的女潮商有何创奇故事？_张美兰_香港_李嘉诚" [Born in Shantou, Haojiang, what is the story of this female Chaozhou businessman who has been working in Vietnam?]. Sohu (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 13 April 2024. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
- ^ Thang, Quoc; Duyen, Hai (7 March 2024). "Bank embezzlement committed out of family loyalty: Truong My Lan's niece". VnExpress. Archived from the original on 11 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.