Truong My Lan at the court (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) - Truong My Lan, Chairwoman of propertydeveloper Van Thinh Phat Group, on April 26 filed anappeal against the entire first-instance verdict in the case that occurred at VanThinh Phat Group JSC, Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) and relevant companies,units and organisations.
In the appeal, Lan said she had joined the restructuringprocess of SCB but did not misappropriate its funds. She presented several objectivereasons for the risks involved in the process and requested the court of appealto reconsider the charges against her in the first-instance trial.
Many other defendants have also submitted appeals to the HoChi Minh City People's Court.
Earlier, on April 11, Lan was sentenced to death for"embezzlement", 20 years behind bar for "giving bribes"under the 2015 Penal Code, and another 20 years for "violating regulationson banking operations and other activities related to banking activities"under the 1999 Penal Code. The cumulative sentence is the death penalty.
In addition to the above sentences, the court also ordered Lan to compensate theoutstanding debts of 1,243 loans worth 673.85 trillion VND (28 billion USD) asof October 17, 2022 (the date when the case was prosecuted) to the SCB.
According to the indictment of the Supreme People'sProcuracy, Lan built a vast network of about 1,000 subsidiaries and affiliatedcompanies under the Van Thinh Phat umbrella, entrusting their management torelatives. Despite not holding any official position at Saigon Commercial Bank(SCB), Lan was its major shareholder, controlling between 85% and 91.5% of theshares.
Lan and her accomplices selected and appointedtheir relatives to key positions at the bank, formed a number of SCB unitsspecialising in lending and disbursement at Lan’s request, established and usedthousands of "ghost" companies. The group colluded with leaders ofmany related businesses to commit crimes, and created bogus loan profiles towithdraw money from the bank, among other acts.
From October 9, 2018 to October 7, 2022, Landirected the creation of 2,527 fake loan records, with a total value of 1,066trillion VND (44.4 million USD). As of October 17, 2022, Lan and heraccomplices still owed 677.28 trillion VND in loans, which are all bad debts.After deducting the value of collaterals, the bad loans valued at around 498trillion VND.
The remaining 85 defendants were given sentencesfrom three-year suspended imprisonment to life in prison./.
