Woman Who Committed Fraud Exceeding 3% of GDP... Ultimately Sentenced to Death

Financial Fraud Worth 16 Trillion Won in Vietnam
Chairwoman Truong My Lan Sentenced to Death

A local real estate tycoon in Vietnam has been sentenced to death for the largest embezzlement case in the country's history. The embezzled amount reached 304 trillion VND (approximately 16.4 trillion KRW), exceeding 3% of Vietnam's GDP.

Vietnam's state media Thanh Nien reported on the 11th (local time) that Truong My Lan (67), a female real estate tycoon in southern Ho Chi Minh City, was sentenced to death by the Ho Chi Minh City court for the largest financial fraud case ever recorded.

Chairwoman Truong My Lan of real estate development company Ban Tin Pot Holdings
[Photo by VN Express]

Earlier, Chairwoman Lan was indicted in December last year on charges of embezzling 304 trillion VND (about 16.4 trillion KRW) from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) in collusion with her associates. The amount she embezzled is considered the highest level of fraud crime not only in Vietnam but also in Southeast Asia.

There are 86 defendants involved in the case, including Lan’s husband, a businessman from Hong Kong, Lan’s nephew, 45 former senior SCB officials, 15 former employees of the state-owned Vietnam Bank, as well as numerous government auditors who were also indicted.

From 2012 to 2022, Lan illegally controlled Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank and siphoned off funds of this scale through thousands of ghost companies, while bribing government officials. Prosecutors have identified that the bribes paid to officials who turned a blind eye to Lan’s gang’s crimes amounted to 5.2 million USD (about 6.7 billion KRW). The trial related to this case, which lasted five weeks, was conducted under strict security at the Ho Chi Minh People’s Court.

Prosecutors pointed out that considering loan interest on the embezzled amount, the financial loss suffered by SCB due to this case reached 498 trillion VND (26.9 trillion KRW), and they sought the death penalty for Chairwoman Lan. Lan’s defense argued that she did not intentionally break the law or harm the state and people, but this was not accepted.

Chairwoman Tzuong Mi-ran attending the trial.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Lan’s arrest in October 2022 was the most notable case amid the intensified anti-corruption campaign in Vietnam since 2022. Her fraudulent activities, called the “Blazing Furnace,” affected the highest political circles in Vietnam, leading to the resignation of President Vo Van Thuong in March due to his involvement.

Meanwhile, Lan’s family-owned Bong Sen company holds 93.6% of the shares of Daewoo Hanoi Hotel and proposed selling the hotel to resolve the issues. She also owns the Viet Phat industrial and urban complex in southern Long An Province. This complex is currently undergoing land allocation and infrastructure construction on a 300-hectare site. Additionally, Lan owns a traditional medicine company in Ho Chi Minh City and a vaccine production factory in Hanoi.