On July 31st, the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City announced that it has received and processed the case of fraud, money laundering, and illegal cross-border currency transportation involving Truong My Lan and 33 other defendants.
According to the investigation conclusions and appendices, the Ministry of Public Security’s Investigation Agency identified over 35,000 individuals who purchased bonds from four companies: An Dong Investment Group Joint Stock Company, Sunny World Investment Joint Stock Company, Quang Thuan Investment Joint Stock Company, and Ho Chi Minh City Service and Trade Joint Stock Company (Setra).
To facilitate the trial process, the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City requests that individuals holding bonds issued by these four companies verify their personal information and follow the trial proceedings on the court’s electronic portal.
Truong My Lan. Photo: Nguyen Hue |
For bondholders whose names are not on the list, the court requests that they submit their applications to the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City for resolution as per regulations.
The court emphasizes that it will only accept applications sent via postal services and will not receive applications from individuals holding bonds not issued by the aforementioned four companies.
According to the prosecution, Truong My Lan and her accomplices issued 25 fake bond packages worth over VND 30,869 billion, without any collateral. Currently, these bond packages have an outstanding debt of over VND 30,081 billion owed to more than 35,000 investors, with no capacity for repayment.
To conceal the source of funds obtained from bond issuances and VND 415,000 billion from “Embezzlement” of SCB’s capital, Lan instructed her subordinates to devise strategies to withdraw and transfer money out of the banking system for various purposes.
Regarding the illegal cross-border currency transportation, the indictment states that from 2012 to 2022, whenever there was a need to use money for overseas debt repayment or to receive loans from foreign sources, Truong My Lan directed Trinh Quang Cong (CEO of SPG Company) to collaborate with Nguyen Phuong Anh (Deputy CEO of SPG Company) and Chiu Bing Keung Kenneth (a lawyer managing foreign companies) to establish “fake” contracts for the purchase and sale of shares, capital contributions, and consulting services between domestic and foreign companies (all shell companies).
Through these fake contracts, loan money was transferred from abroad to Vietnam, and debt repayment funds were transferred from Vietnam to foreign countries through the SCB banking system.
The total amount of money that Lan and her accomplices illegally transported across the border exceeded USD 4.5 billion, equivalent to VND 106,000 billion.
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Previously, in the first phase of the trial, Truong My Lan was sentenced to death for “Embezzlement,” 20 years imprisonment for “Bribery,” and 20 years imprisonment for “Violation of lending regulations in the operation of credit institutions” by the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City. The combined sentence is death. Lan’s husband, Chu Lap Co, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Times Square Investment Joint Stock Company, was sentenced to 9 years in prison for “Violation of banking regulations and other regulations related to banking activities.” Her granddaughter, Truong Hue Van, former General Director of Van Thinh Phat Investment Group Joint Stock Company, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for “Embezzlement” and “Violation of lending regulations in the operation of credit institutions.” Additionally, 83 accomplices were sentenced to imprisonment, ranging from 3 years of probation to life imprisonment. Following the first-instance trial, Truong My Lan, her husband, granddaughter, and 19 other defendants appealed for reduced sentences. |
Thanh Phuong
