The curtain fell today in Vietnam, on the much-lauded trial for one of the world’s biggest frauds, with the death sentence of the “mastermind” of the case, for robbing one of the country’s largest banks. The 67-year-old Truong My Lanhead of real estate development group Van Thinh Phat, was judged guilty of financial fraud amounting to VND 304 trillion (12.46 billion dollars ) – the largest in the history of Vietnam.

The head of the real estate giant was found guilty of embezzlement, corruption and violations of banking rules – specifically, within 11 years, Lan embezzled the mammoth amount from the bank Stock Commercial Bank (SCB), which he effectively controlled through dozens of proxies.

It’s about the biggest corruption scandal in Southeast Asian history. From early 2018 until October 2022, when the state bailed out SCB following an outflow of deposits, Lan embezzled large sums by arranging illegal loans to shell companies, investigators said.

Accused in the trial – which began in March and ended in summary proceedings – were also former officials of Vietnam’s central bank, former members of the government as well as executives of the bank involved.

The prosecutor sought the death penalty only for Truong, who was considered the mastermind of the operation.

It is about a rare verdict, as well Lan is one of the few women in Vietnam to be sentenced to death for an economic crime.

From Counter Saleswoman to Self-Made Real Estate Tycoon – How She Robbed the Bank

Lan was born and raised in a poor family and sold cosmetics with her mother at street stalls.

However, after 1986, he took advantage of the openings made by the Communist Party and arrived in the 1990s to have a huge portfolio of hotels and restaurants.

She and her family founded Van Thinh Phat Company in 1992. Over the years VTP has grown to become one of the richest real estate companies in Vietnam, with luxury residential buildings, offices, hotels and shopping malls.

The properties officially belong to the state, but with her personal contacts with state officials, Truong Mi Lan, in 2011, was already one of the most powerful figures in the country.

He initially undertook the merger of three small banks that had liquidity problems, creating one large bank: the Commercial Bank of Saigon.

Laws in Vietnam prohibit any individual from owning more than 5% of a bank’s share capital, but – through hundreds of shell companies and “proxies” – Lan managed to control 90% of the bank’s shares. .

She had her own people in key positions who approved hundreds of loans to her companies – loans to her own companies were 93% of the loans granted by the Commercial Bank of Saigon.

Prosecutors accused her that starting in February 2019 and over a three-year period, she had her driver make bank cash withdrawals totaling $4 billion, which she kept in a vault in the basement of her luxury home.