Appraisal of the project exceeds 26 floors, with a high price multiple times
In the case at Van Thinh Phat Group, the process of Ms. Truong My Lan legitimizing the loan procedures to withdraw money from SCB Bank was greatly aided by the appraisers, valuation companies.
Ms. Lan directed SCB Bank employees directly or through intermediaries to connect with the valuation company to inflate the value of the collateral assets several times and issue appraisal certificates with postponed dates as desired.
According to the indictment of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the collusion with bank employees by appraisers in the case caused a damage of VND 127,040 billion to SCB Bank. Typical of the violations in the valuation at the project located on “prime land” at 100 Hung Vuong Street, District 5, and the Red Light project, District 7.
The land plot at 100 Hung Vuong Street, Ward 9, District 5 has a prime location as it is located at the intersection of Hung Vuong – Nguyen Duy Duong. Photo: Anh Phuong |
The “prime land” at 100 Hung Vuong Street, District 5 has an area of over 7,400m2. As for the origin, this land is owned by the State.
In 2008, this land plot was put up for auction with a starting price of VND 704 billion. However, during the auction preparation process, some procedures were not properly carried out, so Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee decided to postpone it.
According to the investigation of VietNamNet journalists, from 2008 to 2010, after completing the procedures, the “prime land” at 100 Hung Vuong Street was auctioned multiple times by the Ho Chi Minh City Land Auction Council, with the starting price still being VND 704 billion.
In the auction session held in January 2011, this land plot received a lot of attention from investors when the starting price was reduced to VND 625 billion. Finally, the winning bidder was An Dong Investment Corporation, a subsidiary of Van Thinh Phat Group, with a price of VND 1,020 billion, nearly double the starting price.
 The land plot at 100 Hung Vuong Street is currently being used as a parking lot. Photo: Anh Phuong |
After winning the auction for the above land plot, An Dong Investment Corporation did not carry out the necessary procedures to invest in building a commercial center and office building according to the plan.
In the conclusion of the inspection released by Ho Chi Minh City Inspectorate in December 2023, the 100 Hung Vuong project, out of 17 projects in District 5, has been approved for planning but is still in the preparation stage, incomplete in terms of sequence and procedures.
Returning to the Van Thinh Phat case, in 2020, Ms. Truong My Lan instructed bank staff to connect with Thien Phu Valuation Company to appraise the land use rights of the land plot at 100 Hung Vuong Street. The project appraisal file had already been sent to the valuation company, in which the project scale exceeded 15 floors compared to the approved plan.
The valuation company not only failed to conduct on-site inspections to compare assets to provide indicative prices, but also issued delayed appraisal certificates. The land use rights for the 100 Hung Vuong project appraised by this company through the certificate issued in August 2020 had a value of VND 4,427 billion.
With this project, in the middle of 2020, MHB Valuation Company increased the value of the land use rights for the land plot at 100 Hung Vuong Street to VND 14,353 billion. The appraisal file showed that the project exceeded 26 floors compared to the approved plan.
Projects without legal assurance still valued many times
Regarding the Red Light Peninsula Park and Urban Residential Area in Phu Thuan Ward, District 7 (Red Light project), this is a project owned by Saigon Peninsula Group Joint Stock Company, which is also a company belonging to Van Thinh Phat Group ecosystem and serves as the investor.
According to the plan, the Red Light project has a scale of 177.7 hectares, with an expected investment capital of 6 billion USD, equivalent to VND 144,000 billion, including functional areas such as a multipurpose park, international marina, villas, apartments, offices, and hotels.
This project has a prime location as it has 2 sides bordering the river and a frontage facing Dao Tri Street, a road that has many large-scale high-end real estate projects.
 Current status of the Red Light project. Photo: Nguyen Hue |
According to the investigation of the case, by November 2023, this project was still in the process of investment procedures and had not been approved for the project, and the investor had not been allocated the land.
The financial capacity of Saigon Peninsula Group Joint Stock Company has been doubted by the Ministry of Finance. In June 20217, the Ministry of Finance requested the Ministry of Construction to review the capacity to implement the Red Light project of this company.
Approved for investment policy in 2007, the Red Light project has been stagnant for many years. By 2022, there was information that Viva Land Corporation took over the project.
According to the current situation, the Red Light project is still undeveloped land with overgrown grass and no construction activities.
To legitimize loan documents at SCB Bank, in 2020, Ms. Lan instructed bank staff to send pre-appraised files for the Red Light project to Thien Phu Company. The project was appraised improperly, without legal assurance, and did not belong to the property rights of the investor, but it was still valued at VND 151,505 billion.
With Thien Phu Company’s inflated values for the 100 Hung Vuong, District 5 project and the Red Light, District 7 project, SCB Bank employees used these two appraisal certificates to legitimize loan collateral documents. Loans were disbursed to 65 customers for a total amount of VND 105,656.3 billion.
As of October 2022, the total outstanding loans with collateral assets being the above two projects amounted to VND 127,400 billion. According to the appraisal results of Hoang Quan Company, the value of these two projects was only VND 17,320 billion.
Anh Phuong
