On March 05, 2024, Truong My Lan, a real estate tycoon, faces the death penalty in a trial for alleged fraud amounting to $12.5 billion – nearly 3% of the country’s 2022 GDP and Vietnam’s largest financial fraud case on record.
Between 2012 and 2022, as chairwoman of the real estate company Van Thinh Phat, Lan allegedly utilized “thousands of ghost companies, paid bribes to government officials, and violated banking regulations,” according to a government document.
Lan is accused of orchestrating fake loan applications to siphon funds from Saigon Commercial Bank, where she held over 90% of shares. Arrested in October 2022, she faces charges of embezzlement, bribery, and violating banking laws, potentially resulting in a death sentence if convicted.
Additionally, 85 people are being prosecuted in connection, including a former State Bank of Vietnam official accused of accepting $5.2 million in bribes.
Founded in 1992, Van Thinh Phat was one of Vietnam’s wealthiest real estate firms, with projects spanning luxury residential buildings, offices, hotels, and shopping centers.
