Today (23/2), the Civil Enforcement Agency of Ho Chi Minh City announced that it has established a Task Force to receive evidence in the case involving Vạn Thịnh Phát Group and Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB) and related companies, organizations, and units (Receiving Task Force).
According to the Civil Enforcement Agency of Ho Chi Minh City, the establishment of this Receiving Task Force is based on Decision 343 of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, transferring the case evidence from the Criminal Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security to the Civil Enforcement Agency of Ho Chi Minh City.
The Civil Enforcement Agency of Ho Chi Minh City also added that the evidence expected to be received and handed over to the Civil Enforcement Agency of Ho Chi Minh City includes 1,577 land use rights certificates, shareholder certificates, electronic devices, electronic data storage devices, savings accounts…
As Tiền Phong reported, from March 5 to April 29, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court will hold a first-instance trial of Vạn Thịnh Phát Group and Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB). Judge Pham Luong Toan (Chief Judge of Criminal Court, Ho Chi Minh City) will preside over the trial. 10 Prosecutors from the Supreme People’s Procuracy and the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Procuracy were assigned by the Supreme People’s Procuracy to exercise the right to prosecute at the trial.
In the upcoming trial, 86 defendants are being charged with various offenses. In particular, Truong My Lan is being tried for 3 offenses: “Bribery”, “Violation of regulations on banking operations” and “Embezzlement of assets”. For the “Embezzlement of assets” charge, she faces a sentence of 20 years imprisonment, life imprisonment, or death penalty. Ms. Lan has 5 defense attorneys, including Mr. Phan Trung Hoai, Mr. Phan Minh Hoang, Mr. Nguyen Huy Thiep, Mr. Giang Hong Thanh, and Mr. Truong Thanh Duc.
From 2012 to October 2022, Ms. Truong My Lan held from 85% to 91.5% of the capital of SCB, directing, managing, and manipulating the entire operations of SCB. Ms. Truong My Lan and her accomplices selected trusted individuals for key positions at SCB and established some units under SCB specializing in lending and disbursing at Ms. Lan’s request. Established and used “ghost” companies, colluded with individuals who held leading positions in many related enterprises to commit offenses.
Ms. Truong My Lan (left) and her accomplices will stand trial on March 5.
SCB has disbursed to 1,366 customers, 710 individuals, and 656 organizations. Among them, Ms. Truong My Lan’s group has more than 2,500 loans at SCB with a total disbursed amount of over VND 1,066 trillion. SCB’s loans to Ms. Lan’s group account for 93% of the total loans, and the remaining 7% is for regular customers.
By 2022, 875 customers in Ms. Truong My Lan’s group with nearly 1,300 outstanding loans at SCB have a total outstanding balance of over VND 677 trillion. These debts are all unrecoverable.
From February 2018 to October 2022, Ms. Truong My Lan directed her subordinates to create 916 fake loan files of SCB worth VND 545 trillion and embezzled VND 304 trillion, causing SCB not only to lose the principal amount embezzled but also to pay an additional VND 129.372 trillion in interest.
