Vietnam Billionaire Sentenced to Death in Landmark Corruption Case

In a pivotal moment for Vietnam’s battle against corruption, property magnate Truong My Lan, chair of the prominent developer Van Thinh Phat, was condemned to death in one of the nation’s most significant corruption trials to date, marking damages estimated at $27 billion.

The verdict, delivered by a panel comprising three jurors and two judges, unequivocally dismissed all defense contentions by Truong My Lan, who stood accused of siphoning funds from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a ten-year period.

“The defendant’s actions… eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the (Communist) Party and state,” stated the verdict at the trial held in Ho Chi Minh City.

Alongside Lan, 85 others faced sentencing for an array of charges including bribery, abuse of power, and banking law violations. Among them, four received life imprisonment, while others faced terms ranging from 20 years to suspended sentences.

Lan’s husband, Eric Chu Nap Kee, a billionaire from Hong Kong, was handed a nine-year prison term.

Initially accused of embezzling $12.5 billion, Lan’s misdeeds have now ballooned to $27 billion, a staggering six percent of Vietnam’s 2023 GDP, as per prosecutors. The court has mandated Lan, aged 67, to reimburse nearly the entire sum as compensation.

Despite being an unprecedentedly harsh sentence for such a case, Vietnam, according to Amnesty International, ranks as a leading executor globally.

Lan’s apprehension was part of a nationwide anti-corruption initiative that ensnared numerous officials and business figures in recent years.

Amidst Lan’s arrest in October 2022, protests erupted in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, a rarity in Vietnam’s single-party system, reflecting the profound impact of her actions.

Nga, a 67-year-old resident of Hanoi, expressed disappointment at the death sentence, hoping for a life term so Lan could grasp the repercussions of her deeds firsthand.

The scheme orchestrated by Lan involved falsified loan applications to extract funds from SCB, in which she held a 90 percent stake. Victims, predominantly SCB bondholders, remain unable to access their investments or receive interest payments since Lan’s arrest.

Prosecutors disclosed seizing over 1,000 properties linked to Lan and unearthing a $5.2 million bribe, purportedly the largest in Vietnam’s history, exchanged between Lan, SCB officials, and state functionaries to conceal the bank’s misdemeanors.

Former head of the State Bank of Vietnam’s inspection team, Do Thi Nhan, was sentenced to life imprisonment for her role in the scandal, revealing how millions were delivered in Styrofoam boxes by SCB’s former CEO.

Since 2021, Vietnam has indicted over 4,400 individuals across more than 1,700 corruption cases, underlining the nation’s resolve to combat graft.

This verdict echoes a recent sentencing of another prominent figure, Do Anh Dung, head of the Tan Hoang Minh group, who received an eight-year prison term for defrauding investors in a $355 million bond scam.