On March 15th, the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City continued to hear the case of wrongdoing at Van Thinh Phat Group, Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), and related organizations.
No auction of the ancient villa
The panel of judges questioned Ms. Truong My Lan (Chairman of Van Thinh Phat Group) about the handling of real estate in the case, including an ancient villa located at 110 – 112 Vo Van Tan, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City.
In response, Ms. Truong My Lan stated that at the time of purchase for 700 billion VND, the villa is an ancient villa that needs to be renovated for preservation, so she requested the panel of judges not to auction it and return it to her family. In addition, her daughter has been carrying out the renovation process for the past 5 years and it is still unfinished.
Ms. Truong My Lan at the trial.
The spacious villa with an area of nearly 3,000 square meters used to be called Southern Villa. The owners named on the assets are Ms. Dang Kim Chi (born in 1938) and Ms. Nguyen Kim Sa Dang (American nationality, born in 1934).
The building has 3 entrances: two main gates on Vo Van Tan Street and one side gate on Ba Huyen Thanh Quan Street. The usable space includes 2 floors with a total floor area of over 2,500 square meters, designed in a North-South direction according to the sequence of each construction block. The main part of the house is 990 square meters, including 16 rooms.
In 2013, when the real estate market was booming, this century-old villa was offered for sale at $47 million. However, by 2015, the transaction was successfully concluded at a value of $35 million (about 700 billion VND at that time’s exchange rate). The buyer was Minerva Joint Stock Company.
In 2019, the renovation was carried out. After Truong My Lan was arrested and detained, the construction was halted.
Truong My Lan’s daughter offers to sell a building worth $1 billion
At the trial on March 12th, Truong My Lan informed the court that her daughter is selling a building worth $1 billion in Hanoi to address the consequences of the case.
At today’s trial, the panel of judges asked Truong My Lan if the building is Capital Place at 29 Lieu Giai. Ms. Lan confirmed it.
“Truong My Lan’s daughter, Chu Diep Phan, has sent a document to the court, explaining that someone is paying $360 million, but this building is currently mortgaged by 4 foreign banks for $230 million. Therefore, after the sale, after repaying the debt to the 4 banks, the remaining amount will be used to address the consequences of the case. Therefore, the statement that this building is being sold for $1 billion is incorrect,” said the presiding judge.
Ms. Lan believes that she bought the building for $700 million, plus the cost of completing the paperwork, so the value of that building is $1 billion.
“Someone has already paid $400 – 500 million for this building…,” said Ms. Lan. The presiding judge requested, “Whoever pays this amount, Ms. Lan, please provide the information here, and the panel of judges will facilitate you, rather than just saying it’s done.”
Subsequently, Truong My Lan suggested that if the sale is successful, she requests the panel of judges to recover the building to address the consequences of the case.
Regarding the Daewoo Hotel in Hanoi, Truong My Lan explained that the Bong Sen Joint Stock Company owned by her family has a 73% stake. Ms. Lan also suggested selling this hotel and then using the proceeds to address the consequences of the case.
“In the past, Bong Sen borrowed the hotel to issue project bonds. If there are issues with the bonds, it will be difficult to recover,” Ms. Lan said, and she proposed that if the recovery is successful, it should be used to address the consequences of the case.
