On July 31, the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City (TAND) 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 has 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, TAND requests that individuals holding bonds issued by these four companies verify their personal information and follow the trial proceedings on the TAND’s electronic portal.
Truong My Lan. Photo: Nguyen Hue |
For bondholders not listed in the appendices, the court requests that they submit their applications to TAND for resolution as per regulations. The court will only accept applications sent by post and will not receive applications from individuals holding bonds not issued by the aforementioned four companies.
According to the indictment, 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 Bank’s funds, Lan instructed her subordinates to devise a plan to withdraw and transfer money out of the banking system for various purposes.
Regarding the illegal cross-border currency transportation, it is alleged that from 2012 to 2022, whenever there was a need to use money for overseas debt repayment or to receive loans from abroad, Truong My Lan instructed Trinh Quang Cong (General Director of SPG Company) to collaborate with Nguyen Phuong Anh (Deputy General Director 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 companies in Vietnam and organizations abroad (all shell companies).
Through these fake contracts, loan money was transferred from abroad to Vietnam, and debt repayment money was 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 regulations on lending in the operation of credit institutions” by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court. The combined sentence is death. Her husband, Chu Lap Co, was sentenced to 9 years in prison for “Violation of regulations on banking activities and other activities 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 regulations on lending in the operation of credit institutions.” Eighty-three accomplices were also sentenced to prison terms ranging from 3 years’ 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
