The Two Special Requests of Truong My Lan After the Death Sentence

On May 12, attorney Giang Hong Thanh, representing Truong My Lan, former Chairman of the Board of Van Thinh Phat Group, who is currently being detained at Camp T17 of the Ministry of Public Security, stated that his client had submitted a petition to the Central-level Interagency Committee for Execution of Sentences and Asset Recovery in cases related to Van Thinh Phat Group.

In her petition, Ms. Lan expressed her support for the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 742/QD-TTg dated April 9, 2025, on the establishment of the Interagency Committee, considering it a timely and appropriate decision to resolve bottlenecks in handling execution assets, aiming for transparent, objective, and efficient recovery of embezzled and lost assets.

Ms. Lan stated, “This decision aligns with my consistent wish to mobilize all possibilities and resources to promptly compensate for the funds that the State Bank of Vietnam specially lent to SCB.”

However, she raised concerns about the undervaluation of the assets, which could result in significant losses for the state and affect her legitimate rights. Therefore, she proposed that the Committee pay special attention to re-evaluating the assets based on market prices and preventing the risk of vested interests during the handling process.

She provided evidence that out of the 1,166 codes of secured assets for 1,284 loans, only 726 codes were valued by Hoang Quan Valuation Company, with a total value of VND 253,561 billion. She argued that this figure was significantly lower than the market value.

To support her claim, Ms. Lan compared the valuation results of Hoang Quan Company with those of VAAE, a reputable company introduced by the Ministry of Finance and requested by the State Bank of Vietnam for cooperation in valuation. She pointed out that just four assets, including Windsor Plaza, Times Square, Cho Vai, and Mui Den Do projects, were undervalued by approximately VND 193,000 billion.

Specifically, for the 118-hectare Mui Den Do project located at the confluence of the Saigon River (District 7, Ho Chi Minh City), Savills Vietnam valued the asset at VND 180,800 billion.

Additionally, regarding the 440 codes of assets that have not been valued, Ms. Lan emphasized that many of these assets are highly valuable, such as land-use rights at 2-4-6 Hai Ba Trung, 152 Tran Phu, and 190 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, all located in prime areas of Ho Chi Minh City. She asserted that if all 440 codes were properly valued, the state could recover at least VND 200,000 billion.

Ms. Lan also pointed out that Hoang Quan’s valuation certificates were based on values as of September 30, 2022. However, since October 21, 2024, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has issued Decision No. 79/2024/QD-UBND, adjusting land prices, with increases of up to 3-5 times in certain areas. “I believe that if the assets are revalued based on the new land price framework, the total value of my assets, excluding shares, stocks, and contributed capital, will be around VND 1,000,000 billion,” she wrote.

Previously, on December 17, 2024, Ms. Lan had submitted a petition to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Justice, requesting a re-evaluation of the 726 codes of assets valued by Hoang Quan Company, in accordance with Article 59 of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments.

“I earnestly request the Committee to instruct the competent authorities to re-evaluate the 1,166 codes of secured assets based on market prices to thoroughly remedy the consequences and bring the highest recovery value to the State,” wrote Ms. Lan, adding that she wished to participate in the asset valuation and handling process.

“With over 30 years of experience in the real estate field and in-depth knowledge of the legal dossiers and characteristics of each of the 1,166 codes of assets under my ownership and management, I believe that if given a special mechanism to participate in the handling process, I can turn most of these assets into ‘golden egg-laying geese,'” she expressed.