On November 5th, the Ho Chi Minh City High-Level People’s Court continued the appellate trial for 48 out of 86 defendants who had filed appeals in the first phase of the Van Thinh Phat scandal.
Among the appellants was Vo Tan Hoang Van, former CEO of Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB), who was convicted of “Embezzlement” and “Violation of lending regulations in credit institution operations” and sentenced to life imprisonment.
 Vo Tan Hoang Van at the first-instance trial |
According to the original verdict, whenever she needed money, Truong My Lan, former Chairwoman of the Van Thinh Phat Group, would call Mr. Van to arrange for fund withdrawals from SCB through loans. Ms. Lan instructed SCB to disburse these loans for purposes such as repaying old debts, settling loans at other banks, and investing in new projects, contrary to the proposed plan in the loan application.
Other defendants in court |
Mr. Van appealed for a reduced sentence, requesting the appellate court to reconsider his role and the context in which the crimes were committed.
He revealed that the cost of restructuring SCB reached 20,000-25,000 billion VND annually, including operational and capital mobilization expenses. During this process, Ms. Lan provided assets to SCB as collateral for the loans but lacked the actual financial resources to repay the debts when they became due.
Mr. Van denied receiving instructions from Ms. Lan and explained that SCB approved the loans to safeguard the fragile achievements of the restructuring process, leading to leniency in the approval process and the bypassing of necessary procedures to prevent an increase in non-performing loans.
As a result, the cycle of lending and debt rollover continued for years, creating a spiraling effect of successive borrowings and repayments, causing the debt to balloon like a “flood that swept away everything” and leading to the current situation.
Mr. Van confessed that this explained why he and his accomplices, despite their qualifications and positions, committed such violations without personal gain.
Y Linh, Photo: Hoang Trieu
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Trương Mỹ Lan: A Billion-Dollar Overseas Investment for SCB Shares and Restructuring
“Ms. Truong My Lan asserted that nearly US$1 billion of the total inflow of over US$3 billion from overseas remittances belonged to her friends. This substantial amount was intended to facilitate the purchase of shares and enable their participation in the restructuring of SCB.”
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The deadline for victims of the bond-buying scam to come forward and amend their information has been extended, as per the latest announcement on September 27th.
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At the trial, the remaining defendants, comprising SCB’s leadership and companies within Van Thinh Phat’s ecosystem, testified that Truong My Lan orchestrated the transfer of funds overseas.
