On the morning of March 19, the trial of defendant Truong My Lan (Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Van Thinh Phat Group) and her accomplices entered the stage of prosecution and the sentencing proposal by the People’s Procuracy of Ho Chi Minh City.
The representative of the People’s Procuracy of Ho Chi Minh City stated that during the trial, defendant Truong My Lan did not show remorse, gave evasive answers, and did not admit to the criminal acts. In addition, defendant Lan also blamed the employees and other defendants at SCB; the consequences of the case were particularly serious and it was unlikely to recover from them.
Therefore, the representative of the People’s Procuracy of Ho Chi Minh City believed that Truong My Lan should be permanently removed from society.
Defendant Truong My Lan at the trial this morning.
According to the representative of the People’s Procuracy, during the questioning days, it was proven that Truong My Lan took advantage of the bank restructuring, after merging the three banks and gradually holding shares of SCB (91.5%), she used SCB as a financial tool, withdrew money from SCB, and arranged her relatives in key positions at SCB. Truong My Lan used SCB as a financial tool to serve her own interests.
Truong My Lan also instructed the establishment of “ghost” companies; colluded with appraisal companies to inflate the value of collateral assets; directed the creation of a large number of fake loan files at SCB; bribed and influenced officials and authorities of the State Bank to conceal violations at SCB.
“Defendant Truong My Lan is the mastermind who caused the particularly serious consequences in this large-scale case, with total damages amounting to more than 498 trillion VND (after deducting the collateral assets that were appraised by Hoang Quan Valuation Company),” said the representative of the People’s Procuracy.
In which Truong My Lan and the other defendants violated lending regulations, causing damages of over 64 trillion VND; embezzled and misappropriated SCB’s assets, totaling over 304 trillion VND in principal and over 129 trillion VND in accrued interest. The damages were calculated in favor of Truong My Lan and the other defendants, according to the People’s Procuracy.
In addition, Truong My Lan met, discussed, and directed Vo Tan Hoang Van to bribe Do Thi Nhan (former Director of the Inspectorate and Supervision II Department) with 5.2 million USD, and gave gifts and money to other members of the inspection team to conceal the poor situation of SCB and avoid placing SCB under special control.
Although defendant Lan did not admit to instructing Vo Tan Hoang Van to meet and give money to Do Thi Nhan, based on the testimony of defendant Vo Tan Hoang Van, documentary evidence, and electronic data, it was shown that Truong My Lan was the one who instructed Van to meet and bribe Do Thi Nhan.
“From there, there is sufficient evidence to determine that defendant Truong My Lan has committed the crime of bribery,” analyzed the People’s Procuracy.
The representative of the People’s Procuracy also mentioned that Truong My Lan has a mitigating circumstance, which is her active participation in charity activities. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, she received commendations from the President and many other functional agencies; the defendant voluntarily used her assets to remedy the consequences.
However, the People’s Procuracy also analyzed that Truong My Lan deliberately committed crimes over a long period of time, using cunning methods to commit crimes, and organized crimes with two or more offenses, which are aggravating circumstances of criminal responsibility.
