On March 12, the trial of Ms. Truong My Lan (Chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group) and her accomplices on various charges took place.
Lawyer Phan Trung Hoai (defending Ms. Truong My Lan) interrogated the defendant Truong My Lan about the case and the allegations in the indictment.
In response to the lawyer, defendant Truong My Lan said, “Since I was arrested until today, I would like to thank the authorities for taking care of my health to keep me mentally stable. I respect the content of the indictment and the testimonies of all other defendants.”
According to defendant Lan, her mother is a vendor at Ben Thanh Market, and her family has accumulated wealth, thus having a strong family economy to establish a company. In 1992, Mr. Chu Lap Co came to Ho Chi Minh City to invest, and they chose Vietnam as the place to develop their long-term career.
Defendant Truong My Lan and her accomplices at the trial on March 12th |
When invited to merge 3 banks to establish SCB, the defendant mobilized friends inside and outside the country to participate in shares. In terms of business, the defendant had confidence that with the merger of 3 banks, she could make it, so she dared to take risks by borrowing collateral assets.
“My assets and my friends’ were put into the restructuring of SCB, so they thought I had power,”- defendant Lan said.
The defendant claimed that she only knew how to do business, lend assets, knew nothing about banking transactions, nor about SCB.
Regarding the question of the Vạn Thịnh Phát ecological system having a total of 1,000 “ghost” companies carrying out loans for the defendant to withdraw money, the defendant claimed that these companies were not related to Van Thinh Phat.
The defendant hopes that the judges will consider the amount of assets misappropriated as well as charges of embezzlement.
“In addition, I want to transfer the 1,000 billion VND that Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri can use to remedy the damage to SCB because SCB is in desperate need of money. I want to authorize the State Bank to handle my shares, my child’s shares, and my friends’ shares to resolve and remedy the damage,”- Ms. Lan responded to the lawyer and the judges.
PHAM DUNG. Photo: HOANG TRIEU
