On March 19, TPHCM People’s Court continued the trial of the case at Van Thinh Phat Group Joint Stock Company (referred to as Van Thinh Phat Group) and Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB). This is the 10th trial day.
Day 10 of the trial
TPHCM Prosecutor’s Office began to present the charges against the 86 defendants in the case. According to the accusation, the defendants including Truong My Lan (former Chairman of Van Thinh Phat Group) and others have violated the proper operation of organizations and undermined the trust of the people.
In order to mitigate the consequences of the case, Lan agrees to use multiple assets and authorizes her daughter to recover more than 1.5 trillion VND of unpaid debts from individuals and organizations.
The investigation process has also revealed the fraudulent misappropriation of assets by Truong My Lan.
Since the start of the trial on March 5, Truong My Lan has continuously denied the accused actions. Meanwhile, the SCB leadership, who are knowledgeable in law, have admitted to assisting Truong My Lan in depleting the bank. The total damage has been determined to be 498 trillion VND.
Defendant Truong My Lan
TPHCM Prosecutor’s Office believes that Lan has committed multiple organized crimes, using various clever methods to embezzle and cause significant financial damage to the state. These are aggravated circumstances that increase her criminal liability. Furthermore, the representative of the TPHCM Prosecutor’s Office also argues that Lan has shown no remorse and has blamed her subordinates and other defendants at SCB. Therefore, appropriate punishment is necessary for her criminal actions.
The representative also stated that before the restructuring of SCB (on January 1, 2012), Truong My Lan owned more than 80% of the shares of SCB (through Vietnamese Financial CP Company and other nominees). By 2018, Lan’s shareholding in SCB had increased to over 91%.
Defendant Do Thi Nhan
With her controlling power as a shareholder, Lan easily controlled all activities of SCB from the time of the merger until the initiation of the case.
Lan met Do Thi Nhan and provided $5.2 million to conceal the extremely poor condition and misconduct of SCB, which was discovered through an inspection, in order to prevent SCB from being placed under special scrutiny and to continue its restructuring…
During the period from January 1, 2012, to October 7, 2022, Lan orchestrated the fabrication, lending, and disbursement of 2,527 loans to deplete over 1 quadrillion VND from SCB – 100 times the bank’s charter capital (SCB was once the largest private bank with total assets and charter capital of 15.2 trillion VND). Through this, Lan embezzled over 304 trillion VND.
To legitimize the withdrawal of money from SCB, when the bank disbursed funds into the accounts of “ghost” companies under the borrowing plan, Truong My Lan instructed Ho Buu Phuong to cooperate with Nguyen Phuong Anh, Dang Phuong Hoai Tam, Phan Chi Luan (from the Office of the Board of Directors of Van Thinh Phat Group) to create a plan to “fund” by creating fictitious share transfer contracts. They also used multiple individuals, opening accounts at SCB, to make withdrawals, deposits, and transfers in circles, ultimately benefiting Truong My Lan.
In cases where SCB disbursed funds into the accounts of individuals (who were hired to borrow or be named as loan beneficiaries), these individuals would go to the bank to sign withdrawal documents. Truong My Lan instructed Nguyen Phuong Hong (Deputy General Director of SCB; deceased) or Tran Thi My Dung (Deputy General Director of SCB) to prepare the necessary documents. Afterwards, Lan instructed Bui Van Dung (her driver) to go to SCB Saigon Branch to receive the money.
Defendants in court
From February 26, 2019, to September 12, 2022, following Truong My Lan’s instructions, Bui Van Dung transported a total of 108.878 trillion VND and over 14 million USD from SCB to Van Thinh Phat Group (193-203 Tran Hung Dao) or to B1 Basement, Sherwood Building (127 Pasteur) or delivered them to individuals as instructed by Truong My Lan.
Truong My Lan used these funds to repay debts for property purchases, purchase shares of projects, and for other personal purposes.
The presentation of the charges continues…
