A prominent Vietnamese property mogul and scores of others were on trial Tuesday, accused of embezzling $12.5 billion in the country’s largest-ever fraud case.
Truong My Lan, chairman of major developer Van Thinh Phat, is accused of defrauding Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) for more than a decade, leaving unsuspecting investors out of pocket.
Eighty-five people are also on trial in Ho Chi Minh City, a southern business hotspot, including former central bankers, government officials, and ex-SCB executives, including two Chinese nationals who remain at large, state media reported.
They are accused of bribery, misuse of power, appropriation, and violating financial laws.
On Tuesday, state media released images of dozens of vans transporting the defendants to the court, which was heavily guarded both inside and outside.
State media said that 78 defendants were in court, with eight on the run. The police have filed worldwide arrest orders for the fugitives.
Police have identified around 42,000 victims of the scam, which has stunned the country and prompted hundreds to protest in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City – an unusual occurrence in the one-party communist state.
Lan, who is married to a wealthy Hong Kong businessman, is accused of fabricating loan applications to withdraw funds from SCB, in which she owns a 90% share.
According to police, the scheme has affected all SCB bondholders who have been unable to transfer their funds and have not received interest or principal payments since Lan’s arrest in October 2022.
Lan’s alleged asset appropriation, which occurred between 2012 and 2022, was worth around 3% of Vietnam’s GDP in 2022.
According to authorities, the $5.2 million allegedly paid by Lan and some SCB bankers to state officials in order to conceal SCB’s breaches and poor financial status was the largest bribery sum ever recorded in Vietnam.
According to Ho Chi Minh City’s Law daily, 10 prosecutors and over 200 lawyers would attend the trial, while other state media said that the court was built up to accommodate nearly 3,000 individuals interested in the case.
Documents weighing up to six tonnes will be handled during the nearly two-month trial, which is the longest ever in Vietnam.
The arrests were part of a national corruption campaign that has targeted numerous officials and members of the country’s economic elite in recent years.
Since 2021, almost 4,400 persons have been indicted in connection with over 1,700 graft cases.
Truong Quy Thanh, the CEO of soft drink giant Tan Hiep Phat Group, is another senior business executive who has been targeted in the anti-corruption drive and suspected of enormous fraud.
He and his two daughters will be charged for allegedly appropriating $31.5 million.
Do Anh Dung, chairman of developer Tan Hoang Minh Group, will also stand trial for fraudulently collecting $355 million in a bond sale to over 6,500 investors.