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Van Thinh Phat fraud case

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Vạn Thịnh Phát Case
Part of Blazing Furnace
Date8 October 2022 (2022-10-08)[a] – present
(1 year and 11 months)
Also known as
  • Vạn Thịnh Phát Major Case
  • Trương Mỹ Lan and accomplices case
ThemeEconomic case, criminal, corruption
Motive
  • Embezzlement of assets, profiteering from SCB
  • Bribery, accepting bribes
  • Money laundering, fraud
  • Asset appropriation
Organised byTrương Mỹ Lan
Outcome
Inquiries
  • 86 defendants (phase 1)[2]
  • 34 defendants (phase 2)
Charges
List of charges
  • Phase 1:
    • Bribery
    • Accepting bribes
    • Violating regulations on banking activities, other activities related to banking operations
    • Embezzlement of assets
    • Abuse of position and power while performing official duties
    • Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences
    • Abuse of trust to appropriate property
  • Phase 2:
    • Money laundering
    • Fraud to appropriate property
    • Illegal transportation of currency across borders
TrialPeople's Court of Ho Chi Minh City
Verdict
  • 1 death sentence
  • 4 life sentences
  • 81 sentences ranging from 3 to 20 years in prison
Damage677 trillion VND (27 billion USD)

Vạn Thịnh Phát Case (also known as Vạn Thịnh Phát Major Case), referred to by the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City as the Trương Mỹ Lan and accomplices case,[3] is an economic and corruption scandal that took place at Vạn Thịnh Phát Group Joint Stock Company and Sai Gon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB), led by billionaire Trương Mỹ Lan for over 10 years. A total of 86 people have been prosecuted and the total damage of the case amounts to 677 trillion VND (equivalent to US$27 billion) through fraudulent disbursements via SCB loan documents amounting to 1 quadrillion VND (equivalent to US$44 billion), making it one of the largest economic scandals in Vietnam's history and surpassing the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal in Malaysia, becoming the largest corruption scandal in Southeast Asia.[4]

The Vạn Thịnh Phát scandal was exposed in the context of the Blazing Furnace campaign initiated by General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng. Many senior officials, including the president, were involved[citation needed].

According to the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City, the trial of the case will be conducted in two phases, with the first phase closely following the Vạn Thịnh Phát case and focusing on investigation, prosecution, and trial to recover assets, and the second phase related to corporate bonds. The first phase trial took place from March 5 to April 11, 2024, with the participation of 200 lawyers and 86 defendants, of which 7 were absent. After the trial, Trương Mỹ Lan was sentenced to death in the first instance, along with 4 accomplices receiving life sentences, and other defendants receiving sentences ranging from 3 years of suspended sentence to 20 years in prison.[5]

Background

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Trương Mỹ Lan and Vạn Thịnh Phát Group

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Trương Mỹ Lan, born on October 13, 1956, is a Chinese-descended Vietnamese businesswoman born in Saigon, Republic of Vietnam (now Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). Before becoming the owner of a major corporation in Vietnam, she sold cosmetics at Ben Thanh Market, Ho Chi Minh City, with financial support from her mother.[6] In 1992, she married Hong Kong businessman Chu Lap Co. Together they founded Vạn Thịnh Phát Group, initially focusing on trade and business, restaurants, and hotels in the aftermath of the Đổi Mới reforms.[7][6][8] In 2007, she began shifting towards the real estate sector.[9] After acquiring SCB Bank through shareholding control, she turned SCB into one of the largest commercial banks in Vietnam by asset size. At the same time, Vạn Thịnh Phát became one of the wealthiest real estate companies in Vietnam with a series of projects including high-end residential buildings, offices, hotels, and shopping centers.[6] The headquarters of Times Square Investment Joint Stock Company has a frontage on Nguyen Hue Walking Street, District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City, and the Union Square shopping – hotel complex with four frontages in District 1 on Nguyen Hue, Le Lai, Le Thanh Ton, and Dong Khoi streets.[10] Despite owning a large amount of assets, little information about her or her family is known.[11]

Burning Furnace Campaign

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General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng.
General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng, who initiated the Burning Furnace Campaign.

Corruption in Vietnam grew during the tenure of Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng.[12] By 2016, the Communist Party of Vietnam began implementing the anti-corruption campaign known as the "Burning Furnace" initiated by General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng.[12][13] The campaign intensified in 2022.[11] The campaign led to the resignation of many senior government officials, including Vietnamese Presidents Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and Võ Văn Thưởng,[12][14] and started thousands of prosecutions.[13] Economic figures were also affected by this campaign. In March 2022, Trịnh Văn Quyết, the chairman of the FLC Group and its subsidiary, Bamboo Airways, was arrested for stock market manipulation.[15] Nearly a month later, Đỗ Anh Dũng, the chairman of the Tân Hoàng Minh Group, was arrested for fraud and appropriation of assets.[16] Similarly, in April, the chairman of Tân Hiệp Phát Group, Vietnam's largest private beverage producer, Trần Quý Thanh, was also arrested for embezzlement.[17] Thus, during March and April, the chairmen of three major corporations in Vietnam were consecutively arrested for violations.[b] However, there have been many allegations that the campaign is being used for political purposes to vie for internal power, a claim rejected by the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[18]

Notes

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  1. ^ From the time of the arrest of Ms. Trương Mỹ Lan.[1]
  2. ^ See sources:[15][16][17]

References

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  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference VNExpress was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ https://english.thesaigontimes.vn/over-70-more-individuals-indicted-in-van-thinh-phat-fraud-case/
  3. ^ Judgment 157/2024/HS-ST 2024.
  4. ^ https://amp.dw.com/en/vietnam-reels-from-historic-114-billion-corruption-scandal/a-67606137
  5. ^ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68778636.amp
  6. ^ a b c Lam Nguyen (2024-03-29). "Who is Truong My Lan? From market stall to Vietnam's biggest fraud case" [Trương Mỹ Lan là ai? Từ cửa hàng trong chợ đến vụ lừa đảo lớn nhất Việt Nam?]. South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 2024-04-09. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  7. ^ Ngọc Lê (2022-10-08). "Who is Trương Mỹ Lan?". Thanh Niên (in Vietnamese). Archived from the original on 2024-03-05. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  8. ^ Jonathan Head; Thu Bui (2024-04-10). "Truong My Lan: Vietnamese billionaire sentenced to death for $44bn fraud" [Trương Mỹ Lan: Tỷ phú Việt bị kết án tử hình vì lừa đảo 44 tỷ USD]. BBC News. Archived from the original on 2024-04-11. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference :28 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Nam Anh (2023-11-24). "Series of "huge" real estate related to Vạn Thịnh Phát in HCMC". Dân Trí Electronic Newspaper (in Vietnamese). Archived from the original on 2023-12-04. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  11. ^ a b "Vietnam tycoon Truong My Lan sentenced to death in $12.5bn fraud case" [Vietnamese tycoon Trương Mỹ Lan sentenced to death in $12.5 billion fraud case]. Al Jazeera. 2024-04-11. Archived from the original on 2024-04-14. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
  12. ^ a b c Alex Berry (2023-12-01). "Vietnam reels from historic €11.4 billion corruption scandal" [Việt Nam chấn động sau vụ bê bối tham nhũng lịch sử 11,4 tỷ euro]. Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 2023-12-18. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  13. ^ a b Ratcliffe, Rebecca (2024-04-11). "Vietnamese property tycoon sentenced to death in $27bn fraud case" [Trùm bất động sản Việt Nam bị kết án tử hình trong vụ lừa đảo 27 tỷ USD]. The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2024-04-12. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  14. ^ Yoon, John; Doan, Chau (2024-04-11). "Vietnamese Real Estate Tycoon Sentenced to Death in $12 Billion Fraud Case". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2024-04-12. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  15. ^ a b Thân Hoàng; Hoàng Điệp (2022-03-29). "FLC Chairman Trịnh Văn Quyết arrested for stock market manipulation". Tuổi Trẻ Newspaper (in Vietnamese). Archived from the original on 2023-09-21. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  16. ^ a b Thân Hoàng (2022-04-05). "Chairman of Tân Hoàng Minh Group Đỗ Anh Dũng arrested". Tuổi Trẻ Newspaper (in Vietnamese). Archived from the original on 2024-02-26. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  17. ^ a b Thân Hoàng (2023-04-10). "Chairman of Tân Hiệp Phát Group Trần Quý Thanh and daughter Trần Uyên Phương arrested". Tuổi Trẻ Newspaper (in Vietnamese). Archived from the original on 2024-01-22. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  18. ^ Khanh Vu; Francesco Guarascio (2024-03-21). Nick Macfie; William Mallard; Neil Fullick (eds.). "Explainer: Vietnam's president resigns: who's who and what comes next?". Reuters. Retrieved 2024-03-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

Further reading

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