Vietnam sentences real estate tycoon Truong My Lan to death in its largest-ever fraud case
 

 Real estate tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced Thursday to death by a court in Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam in the country’s largest financial fraud case ever, state media Vietnam Net said.

The 67-year-old chair of the real estate company Van Thinh Phat was formally charged with fraud amounting to $12.5 billion — nearly 3% of the country’s 2022 GDP.

Lan illegally controlled Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank between 2012 and 2022 and allowed 2,500 loans that resulted in losses of $27 billion to the bank, reported state media VnExpress. The court asked her to compensate the bank $26.9 million.

Despite mitigating circumstances — this was a first-time offense and Lan participated in charity activities — the court attributed its harsh sentence to the seriousness of the case, saying Lan was at the helm of an orchestrated and sophisticated criminal enterprise that had serious consequences with no possibility of the money being recovered, VnExpress said.

The court found that she used this approach to tap SCB for cash. She indirectly owned more than 90% of the bank — a charge she denied — and approved thousands of loans to “ghost companies,” according to government documents. These loans then found their way back to her, state media VNExpress reported, citing the court’s findings.

She then bribed officials to cover her tracks, it added.

Former central bank official Do Thi Nhan was also sentenced Thursday to life in prison for accepting $5.2 million in bribes.

Lan’s arrest in October 2022 was among the most high-profile in an ongoing anti-corruption drive in Vietnam that has intensified since 2022. The so-called Blazing Furnace campaign has touched the highest echelons of Vietnamese politics. Former President Vo Van Thuong resigned in March after being implicated in the campaign.

But Lan’s trial shocked the nation. Analysts said the scale of the scam raised questions about whether other banks or businesses had similarly erred, dampening Vietnam’s economic outlook and making foreign investors jittery at a time when Vietnam has been trying to position itself as the ideal home for businesses trying to pivot their supply chains away from China

source: https://apnews.com/article/vietnam-truong-my-lan-sentence-fraud-trial-f0b97cf206f5656e09eb9c410861a153

Comprehension

Who is Truong My Lan?
What was Truong My Lan sentenced to?
How much was the fraud that Truong My Lan was charged with?
What did Truong My Lan do to Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB)?
How much did Truong My Lan have to compensate the bank?
Who was also sentenced on Thursday?
When was Truong My Lan arrested?
What is the Blazing Furnace campaign?

Discussion

What do you think about Truong My Lan's sentence?
Do you think the punishment for financial fraud should be severe?
Have you heard of any financial fraud cases in your country?
How can financial fraud affect the economy of a country?
What do you think about the role of bribery in financial fraud cases?
Do you think corruption is a serious problem in Vietnam?
What can be done to prevent financial fraud in banks?
Should foreign investors be concerned about financial fraud cases in Vietnam?

Vocabulary

Tycoon - a wealthy and powerful businessperson
Sentenced - officially judged and punished for a crime
Fraud - the use of dishonest methods to take something valuable from someone
Mitigating circumstances - factors that reduce the severity of a crime
Orchestrated - planned and organized carefully
Sophisticated - complicated and developed
Ghost companies - companies that exist only on paper and are used for illegal activities
Bribed - given money or other valuable things to in exchange for favors or to avoid punishment