The Real Estate Trial: Phase 2 – An Unrealistic Solution

After a three-week trial regarding the case at the Joint Stock Company Van Thinh Phat Group and related units (phase 2), the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court is expected to deliver its verdict on the morning of October 17. In their final statements before the council retired to consider its verdict, most of the defendants expressed their remorse.

Belated Regret

Defendant Truong My Lan, former chairman of Van Thinh Phat Group, tearfully delivered her final words, pledging to prioritize compensating the tens of thousands of people who had invested in the bonds. The representative of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Procuracy, who acted as the public prosecutor at the trial, stated that despite acknowledging several mitigating circumstances for defendant Lan, due to the seriousness of the case, the prosecution still proposed a life sentence for the defendant.

Previously, the representative of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Procuracy affirmed that after thoroughly analyzing and evaluating the trial proceedings, the prosecution maintained its indictment against the defendants. According to the prosecution, during the investigation and trial, the defendants confessed to the acts as stated in the indictment of the Supreme People’s Procuracy. The case was committed in an organized manner, with defendant Lan being the mastermind behind the bond issuance and directing her accomplices to carry out the illegal cross-border currency transportation and money laundering.

The details of the case indicate that around August 2018, the Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB) faced difficulties due to inspections by state management agencies and prolonged bad debt issues. Companies belonging to the Van Thinh Phat Group encountered challenges in obtaining credit. To address this, Truong My Lan organized a meeting with key leaders of SCB, the Van Thinh Phat Group, and TVSI Securities Company. At this meeting, they agreed to illegally issue private enterprise bonds to raise funds from the people to repay bank debts and invest in other projects.

Consequently, from 2018 to 2020, they utilized four companies within the Van Thinh Phat Group (namely An Dong, Quang Thuan, Sunny World, and Setra) to issue 25 “fake” bond codes without collateral, totaling more than VND 30,869 billion. The scheme involved creating a fake money flow to legalize primary investors from eight other companies within the group and then issuing private bonds to tens of thousands of people, raising funds for various purposes.

Many Defendants Cooperated Actively

Regarding civil liability, given defendant Lan’s highest role in the case, the representative of the prosecuting agency requested the council to oblige her to compensate a total amount of more than VND 30,000 billion.

The prosecution acknowledged defendant Lan’s desire to remedy the consequences of the case. However, they considered this proposal unrealistic and required a clearer solution to fully acknowledge it.

To ensure defendant Lan’s compensation obligation, the prosecution suggested that the council announce the preservation of her voluntary reparation of more than VND 1,749 billion, along with the amounts voluntarily paid by other defendants in the case, to offset Lan’s compensation liability. Additionally, the prosecution proposed the confiscation of property and objects related to the criminal offenses of the relevant defendants, the return of property to those unrelated to the crimes, and the seizure, continued attachment, and freezing of real estate, accounts, shares, and stocks belonging to defendant Truong My Lan.

Furthermore, the prosecution stated that the appendices listing assets accompanying the Ministry of Public Security’s Conclusion of Investigation No. 13, dated May 29, 2024, are determined to be civil relations. For the remaining civil relations, the representative of the prosecuting agency requested the council to resolve them according to the law, ensuring the defendants’ obligation to execute the judgment. The prosecution also proposed that the council consider utilizing the entire amount of money and assets recovered from the case, along with the recovered amount in the first-instance judgment of phase 1, to remedy the harm caused to the victims.

The representative of the prosecution assessed that the defendants committed the crimes in an organized manner, repeatedly, and with sophisticated tricks. These are aggravating factors in determining their criminal responsibility. However, considering the circumstances of the case, apart from defendant Lan, the other defendants played a role as accomplices. Therefore, the prosecution suggested considering the responsibility for their actions and differentiating their roles, nature, and extent of the crimes. In particular, additional mitigating circumstances should be considered for those defendants who actively cooperated with the investigating authorities.

Notably, defendant Chu Lap Co, Lan’s husband, was assessed to have actively cooperated with the functional agencies during the investigation and trial, demonstrating a cooperative attitude and making efforts to remedy the consequences of the case. According to the prosecution, defendant Co has fully remedied the harm caused by his money laundering act, amounting to more than VND 33 billion.

The prosecution further informed that during the trial, the defendants Phan Chi Luan (former employee of Van Thinh Phat Group), Tran Thi Thuy Ai (former SCB treasury controller), and Truong Thi Kim Lai (former accountant of An Dong Company) took the initiative to compensate for the damage caused, ranging from VND 10 million to VND 20 million. Although these amounts are insignificant compared to the severe consequences of the case, considering the defendants’ difficult economic circumstances, the prosecution recognized their spirit of remedying the harm. As a result, it was proposed to reduce an additional one-year prison sentence from the previously suggested term for each defendant.