Truong My Lan, a leading figure in Vietnam's real estate industry, has been sentenced to death in what is described as the country's largest financial fraud case. The 67-year-old businesswoman, president of the real estate giant Van Thinh Phat, was convicted of orchestrating a massive fraud totaling $12.5 billion, almost 3% of Vietnam's GDP in 2022. Together with her, her granddaughter Truong Hue Van, CEO of Van Thinh Phat, received a 17-year prison sentence for his role in helping Lan.
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Lan's involvement dates back to the 2011 merger of Saigon Joint Commercial Bank (SCB) with two other lenders under the supervision of Vietnam's central bank. Government documents show that Lan illicitly controlled the bank from 2012 to 2022, exploiting it for personal gain. It allegedly used a network of “shell companies” both domestically and internationally to make fraudulent loans to itself and its associates, resulting in staggering losses totaling $27 billion.
Additionally, Lan is accused of bribing government officials, including a former central official who received a life sentence for accepting $5.2 million in bribes. The court, in sentencing Lan to death, emphasized that his actions not only violated individual property rights but also destabilized the SCB, undermining public trust in the Communist Party leadership and the state.
Truong My Lan's background reveals a trajectory from humble beginnings to considerable wealth and influence. Born in 1956, she initially helped her Chinese mother sell cosmetics in Ho Chi Minh City's oldest market. In 1992, Lan and his family founded Van Thinh Phat, which grew to become one of Vietnam's most prosperous real estate companies. That same year she married Hong Kong investor Eric Chu Nap-kee and they have two daughters.
Van Thinh Phat's portfolio includes prestigious properties in Ho Chi Minh City, such as the iconic Times Square Saigon, the luxury Windsor Plaza Hotel, the Capital Place office tower, and the esteemed Sherwood Residence hotel, where Lan resided before his arrest.
Lan's arrest in October 2022 came amid an intense anti-corruption campaign in Vietnam. This sentence, in particular the imposition of the death penalty in a case of a financial crime of this magnitude, has attracted attention at both the national and international levels, signaling a significant advance in the legal landscape of Vietnam.
