VNExpress-Apr 11
Van Thinh Phat chairwoman Truong My Lan on Thursday was sentenced to death for leading a scam that caused damages of VND677 trillion ($27 billion) to the Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB). Lan, 68, is punished for three crimes: bribery, violating banking regulations and embezzlement, judges of the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City said. She is ordered to compensate SCB VND673.8 trillion. Some mitigating factors is that Lan did not have a criminal record before the trial. She has contributed much to the community and participated in many charity and healthcare activities, they added. However, she was the mastermind in the long-term scheme and committed elaborate and organized crimes, causing irrevocable consequences, they said. She took advantage of the State’s plan to restructure SCB to use the bank as a cash cow after merging two lenders with it, they said. She indirectly owned 91.5% stake in SCB through many individuals and ordered leaders of the bank to approve loans for companies in Van Thinh Phat’s ecosystem so she can withdraw money from the bank, they added. She ordered SCB officers to transfer the money to shell companies and then moved the money around or withdrew as cash to cover her wrongdoing, they said. From 2012 to 2022 Lan and her accomplices obtained 2,500 loans and caused losses of VND677 trillion to the bank. To cover the wrongdoing at SCB, Lan ordered her subordinates to bribe auditors of the State Bank of Vietnam. The head banking inspector Do Thi Nhan received $5.2 million in bribe. Her boss, Nguyen Van Hung, deputy chief inspector of the SBV, received $300,000 in bribe. Read more at: https://e.vnexpress.net/news/business/companies/van-thinh-phat-chairwoman-truong-my-lan-sentenced-to-death-in-27b-scam-4733069.html
