The trial of defendant Truong My Lan and her accomplices continued this morning (September 26) with the examination of charges related to the illegal cross-border transportation of currency.
Defendant Nguyen Phuong Anh, former deputy general director of Saigon Peninsula Joint Stock Group, testified that she was assigned by defendant Lan to manage three companies to transfer money overseas.
To legitimize the transactions, Anh created fictitious contracts for these companies, receiving $35 million, or over VND 800 billion, and transferring over VND 1,000 billion abroad. From July to October 2020, the companies under her management transferred $1.8 billion overseas and received $1.4 billion from foreign sources.
Defendant Truong My Lan. Photo: MD |
Anh admitted that all the transactions involving the transfer and receipt of money did not arise from actual business dealings with foreign companies and were based on fictitious contracts.
After finalizing the contracts, Anh’s companies would submit them to the branches of SCB Bank to process the disbursement.
Regarding the source of the money transferred abroad, Anh stated that it was borrowed from other banks.
Defendant To Thi Anh Dao, former deputy general director of Van Thinh Phat Group, testified that Lan directly instructed her to create fictitious dossiers for transferring and receiving money from abroad to Vietnam.
Dao claimed that at the time, she was unaware that the contracts were fictitious and believed them to be genuine loan agreements and share transfer contracts.
In court, Bui Anh Dung, former member of the Board of Directors and deputy general director of SCB Bank, acknowledged his criminal acts as charged. According to Dung, from January 22 to October 10, 2020, he approved six money transfer orders totaling over $30 million, or more than VND 712 billion, based on fictitious contracts.
Defendant Truong Khanh Hoang, acting general director of SCB Bank, confirmed that at the time, the International Management Block submitted the dossiers of companies belonging to the Van Thinh Phat Group for his approval. As the customers and dossiers met the requirements, Hoang approved the money transfers.
In reality, the transactions involving the receipt of money from abroad lacked information about the purpose of the transfer, and the system automatically locked them. Nonetheless, Hoang still approved the unlocking of the transactions in the system for accounting purposes, receiving nearly $2 billion, equivalent to over VND 47,000 billion.
According to the indictment, when Lan needed to transfer money abroad to repay debts or receive loan proceeds from foreign sources, she instructed Chiu Bing Keung Kenneth, a lawyer who managed her overseas companies, to collude with subordinates to create fictitious contracts regarding share purchases, capital contributions, consulting, and borrowing between companies in Vietnam and foreign companies or organizations (all of which were shell companies under the management and operation of individuals associated with the Van Thinh Phat Group). Through these fictitious contracts, loan proceeds were transferred from abroad to Vietnam, and debt repayments were made from Vietnam to foreign sources through the SCB Bank system.
The defendants in court. Photo: MD |
Most of the dossiers for transferring money abroad lacked the necessary requirements, such as confirmation letters from Vietnamese companies regarding the ownership of shares by foreign companies as per the transfer contracts, and consular legalization of the signatures of foreign company representatives on the transfer contracts. Nevertheless, the SCB Bank leadership still approved the money transfers in the system to complete the international transactions.
From 2012 to 2022, 23 companies affiliated with the Van Thinh Phat Group were used to transfer money abroad and receive money from foreign sources. This included 12 companies established and registered in Vietnam and 11 foreign companies or organizations operating in Vietnam.
The total amount illegally transported across the border by Truong My Lan and her accomplices exceeded $4.5 billion, equivalent to more than VND 106,000 billion.
Thanh Phuong
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A lucky chauffeur, skilled in the art of discretion and trusted with immense responsibility, finds himself with a unique perk—a generous tip of 500,000 VND for each trip to SCB, where he securely transports pre-packed cash for his esteemed employer, Ms. Truong My Lan.
“The personal chauffeur of Truong My Lan, with a stoic and unwavering demeanor, revealed a fascinating insight into the world of high-stakes finances. With a nod to his discreet and trusted role, he shared that upon instruction, he would embark on a journey to the SCB Bank, a place where fortunes are made and secured. His task was simple yet laden with intrigue: to collect a substantial sum of money, carefully packaged and boxed, ready to be discreetly transported back to its final destination.”
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