The Times Square building is a complex skyscraper located in the central area of Nguyen Hue Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1.
The overall architecture of Times Square consists of a 39-story tower, with a 6-story base and 3 basement levels, covering a total construction area of about 90,000m2. The height of Times Square reaches nearly 165m, making it the second tallest building in Ho Chi Minh City, and it is also the second building with a helipad on the rooftop.
Despite being a high-end building in Ho Chi Minh City, the Times Square building played an important role in the case that took place at Van Thinh Phat Corporation, led by Ms. Truong My Lan.
Times Square building.
One important link in the chain is being accused of Chu Lap Co (Hong Konger, Chinese nationality – husband of Ms. Truong My Lan) – the person who holds the main shareholder role with 99.26% of the shares and is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Times Square Investment Joint Stock Company (formerly known as Quang Truong Thoi Dai Vietnam Investment Joint Stock Company) – the company that owns the Times Square building.
Mr. Chu Lap Co, together with Truong My Lan, participated in the management of the company’s activities and the implementation of the Times Square building project, with the function of being a complex of office buildings, hotels, high-end apartments, commercial centers, and service facilities on the land at 22-36 Nguyen Hue and 57-69F Dong Khoi, Ben Nghe Ward.
Following the direction of Truong My Lan, Chu Lap Co signed the minutes of the shareholders’ meeting, decision number 13 dated December 10, 2012; the Board of Directors meeting minutes on December 12, 2012 of the Times Square Company approved the mortgage of the Company’s assets to guarantee loan debts for individuals and organizations designated by Ms. Lan.
After having collateral assets for loans, Truong My Lan instructed individuals at SCB Bank, Van Thinh Phat Corporation, and Times Square Company to create “fake” loan profiles; using people’s names for loans and signing “fake” profiles, loan procedures.
Truong My Lan and Chu Lap Co before being arrested.
By this method, from December 2012 to December 2014, Chu Lap Co helped Truong My Lan legitimize “fake” loan profiles to disburse the amount at SCB Bank for 73 loans of 67 customers, the total disbursement amount was over 29.4 trillion VND, with a loan term of 5 years.
By 2017, due to the loan plan being “fake”, the loans were only used to pay off bad debts, with no source to recover principal and interest, so the overdue debts could not be paid. Truong My Lan persuaded Chu Lap Co to sign the minutes of the Board of Directors meeting of the Times Square Joint Stock Company on August 15, 2017, continuing to use Times Square Company’s assets to mortgage to ensure the payment obligations for 54 customers who were borrowing from SCB Bank in order to extend the debt, with a total outstanding loan of over 35.5 trillion dong.
Up to October 17, 2022, Chu Lap Co’s total obligations still have 46 debts with a principal balance of over 19.5 trillion VND; the total outstanding debt is over 39.2 trillion VND.
After deducting the value of the collateral assets for the loans that Chu Lap Co has signed the documents to legitimately borrow mentioned above, it is more than 30 trillion dong.
Based on the verification results at SCB Bank, the recorded statements of the defendants, the investigative agency concluded that Chu Lap Co played the role of assisting his wife Truong My Lan in committing a crime, causing damage to SCB Bank with an amount of over 9.1 trillion VND.
During the investigation process, Chu Lap Co sincerely declared and paid 1 billion VND to redress the consequences.
