Trương Mỹ Lan faces additional charges in Việt Nam’s biggest financial fraud

An officer from the Bình Thạnh District police in HCM City assists a victim in filing a complaint against Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank. She had purchased fake bonds orchestrated by Trương Mỹ Lan, who held a substantial stake in the bank. — VNS Photo Bồ Xuân Hiệp

HCM CITY — Vạn Thịnh Phát Cairwoman Trương Mỹ Lan, who is on death row, is facing additional charges, including misappropriation of assets through fraudulent bond issuances, as part of what is considered Việt Nam’s biggest financial scam ever.

The Supreme People’s Procuracy has issued an indictment to prosecute 34 individuals, including the chairwoman, for misappropriation of assets, money laundering, and illegal transportation of currency across borders.

The 68-year-old chairwoman is the mastermind behind the bond fraud at Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB), according to the Supreme People’s Procuracy.

Lan’s multiple fake companies under the Vạn Thịnh Phát Group carried out fraudulent bond issuances worth over VNĐ30 trillion (US$1.24 billion) and sold them to over 35,000 victims, mostly SCB depositors, according to the police. 

Since her arrest in October 2022, the victims have not received any interest or principal payments.

The central bank has guaranteed bank savings accounts but not the bonds purchased through the lender.

Authorities have confirmed that any money and assets recovered from the scandal will be returned to the rightful owners, including bondholders. 

Police have seized multiple assets, frozen accounts worth millions of US dollars, and placed freezes on assets associated with the chairwoman.

Authorities continue to urge victims in possession of bonds to come forward with information and documents.

In addition, Lan and her accomplices, including her Chinese husband, have also been accused of illegally transporting over $4.5 billion and laundering over VNĐ445 trillion across borders over a 10-year period.

At her trial in April, Lan received the death penalty for financial fraud at SCB and was also ordered to pay compensation of VNĐ673.8 trillion ($27 billion) to the bank.

Her Chinese husband, Eric Chu Nap-kee, chairman of the board of Times Square Vietnam Joint Stock Company, received a nine-year prison sentence for violating banking regulations at Lan’s direction.

Lan’s niece, Trương Huệ Vân, CEO of Windsor Property Management, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for aiding Lan in committing the crimes.

Other bank executives and State officials involved in the scandal received various sentences ranging from three years to life for embezzlement and violating banking regulations.

Lan, who did not hold a position at the bank but indirectly owned a significant stake in it, was found guilty of using it for loans to fund her own company’s operations.

Her arrest was part of a national anti-corruption campaign which has intensified since 2021.

Lan was known as a wealthy Chinese-Vietnamese businesswoman.

In 1992, Lan and her family founded Vạn Thịnh Phát, one of the country’s most prominent real estate companies. It owns major projects and buildings in prime locations in HCM City, Hà Nội and Đà Nẵng.

While Lan’s arrest has exposed the massive scale of the fraud, experts have warned the scandal is just the “tip of the iceberg” in the financial sector. — VNS