Musician Thanh Bui maintains equanimity after wife’s arrest in billion-dollar fraud case

Singer-songwriter Thanh Bui attends the premiere of his student DUYBI’s song on Nov. 30, 2023. Photo by Gia Bao

“Many have asked me whether I was fine, and I always replied to them that I was,” Thanh Bui said Thursday at the premiere of his student DUYBI’s song.

“Music, art, and my students have given strength and energy to me.”

The musician added that his career has not been affected much by the controversy.

“Fortunately, everyone around me, including my coworkers, knows that what I have and what my in-laws have are two different things,” he said. “Perhaps it is because I have been working hard for years, which has earned me a significant reputation and position.”

Thanh Bui added that since Van’s arrest in Oct. last year, his life has been “normal.”

He also claimed that he would never give up on his career and that regardless of what may happen to him personally he would always try to expand his education, art, and cultural projects.

“What really matters is the way you behave in life,” he said. “Giving up on everything, or overcoming things step by step, you have to choose one. For me, I have to be an upright example for my students to follow.”

Thanh Bui said he has always kept himself positive and sane during his life’s hardships. This attitude has helped him remain successful ever since the incident, he added.

Indeed, his works have since achieved high acclaim. His music school has reportedly attracted more students, and the artist himself has recently been collaborating with the world’s top education experts.

“There are things I cannot control,” Thanh Bui said. “But I have been keeping my personality and my perspective positive, and I’ve avoided being affected by external conditions.”

Singer-songwriter Thanh Bui and his wife, businesswoman Truong Hue Van. Photo from Thanh’s Instagram

When asked about his twin children, Thanh Bui said he has always tried his best to ensure that they grow up with their privacy and safety protected. He also wants to make their lives as satisfying as possible, and he considers himself a good father who manages to let his kids live happy lives despite publicized family issues.

Thanh said he has decided to pause the sale of his music compositions so that he can focus on working with his students. Despite that, he is positive about coming back to the music industry with a self-composed song sooner than later.

Born Bui Vu Thanh in Australia to Vietnamese-Australian parents, Thanh Bui, 40, took up professional music training and piano classes at age 10.

He made it to the top 8 of the 2008 Australia Idol contest and relocated to Vietnam in 2010, where he then established his own music label.

He began a professional music education career in 2012, when he founded the Soul Music & Performing Arts Academy in Ho Chi Minh City.

In 2013, he married Van, 35, a businesswoman and niece of Van Thinh Phat’s chairwoman Truong My Lan. Both Van and Lan were arrested in Oct. last year for alleged fraud related to the issuance and trading of bonds.

Investigators announced recently that Lan has been accused of manipulating lender SCB in order to appropriate VND304 trillion ($12.5 billion) from its customers.

Vietnam’s top authorities have recommended that she be charged with bribery, embezzlement, and violating banking regulations for allegedly withdrawing an unaccounted-for VND1 quadrillion ($44 billion) out of SCB from 2012 to 2022. The sum is equivalent to one-fifth of Vietnam’s annual GDP as of the end of September.

Investigators have identified Van as one of Lan’s accomplices.