Lan, who is on trial for misappropriating VND304 trillion ($12 billion) from Saigon Commercial Bank, took advantage of the government’s plan to restructure Saigon Commercial Bank and two other troubled lenders, De Nhat and Vietnam Tin Nghia, merging them.
She owned 91.5% of the capital of SCB and controlled and directed all its operations.
She appointed relatives to key positions at the bank and created 1,000 shell companies to borrow from her. She also partnered with appraisal companies to falsely inflate the value of collateral and bribed officials to cover up her wrongdoing.
She paid Do Thi Nhan, head of an inspection team at the State Bank of Vietnam, a $5.2 million bribe, and also bribed her other members.
“The criminal behaviors of Lan, his accomplices and the inspection team have undermined the government’s economic management, leading to a loss of public trust, and therefore must be dealt with rigorously. »
Lan was the mastermind of the deal and only put collateral in SCB so he could borrow money from it.
From 2012 to 2022, Lan Group took out more than 2,500 loans from SCB, worth 1 quadrillion VND ($44 billion), or 93% of the total credit issued by the bank.
She is accused of causing a loss of 498,000 billion dong to the bank.
Prosecutors said Lan committed crimes repeatedly over a long period of time, with sophisticated methods and in an organized manner.
She was insincere during the trial, making evasive statements and accusing her subordinates, and her criminal behavior led to particularly serious consequences with no possibility of recovery.
“She must therefore be “forever ostracized by society,” prosecutors said, adding that they were recommending the highest sentence for her.
They also recommended shelving for long SCB leaders who helped Lan, including former presidents Dinh Van Thanh and Bui Anh Dung, former CEO Vo Tan Hoang Van, former acting CEO Truong Khanh Hoang and former deputy CEO Tran Thi My Dung.
Thanh escaped before the official investigation began and was tried in absentia. He was accused of helping Lan cause a loss of VND99.67 trillion to SCB.
All defendants except Lan admitted their crimes and stated that they only carried out Lan’s orders because of their complete trust in his plan to restructure SCB.
Lan, however, denied allegations that she controlled SCB and used it as a financial instrument to finance the operations of her own company, Van Thinh Phat.
She claimed that she only owned 5% of the bank, not 91.5%, and that in 2022 she and her two daughters would own 15% of the shares.
The remaining shares belonged to her friends as she convinced them to buy up to 65% of the bank to ensure the merger was successful.
She also denied the accusation that she selected her relatives and gave them large salaries and bonuses to control them. She said all loan approvals at SCB were done by her management and she was unaware of the process.
It did not form 1,000 shell companies to borrow from the bank and only let some companies use its assets as collateral to apply for loans from the bank, she said. She said she also does not have any partnerships with appraisal companies.
She denied accusations of stealing money from the bank. “I had a lot of assets and money in the bank; why would I steal my own money?
She denied ordering her subordinates to pay $5.2 million in bribes to the central bank’s chief inspector, Nhan.
Her Hong Kong husband, Eric Chu, is accused of helping her steal VND9.12 trillion from the bank.
He said he never knew what the documents he signed meant due to the language barrier and only did so because his wife asked him.
Her niece Truong Hue Van, CEO of Van Thinh Phat, admitted to helping Lan steal VND1.1 trillion from SCB due to her family loyalty.
Lan and 12 other defendants accused of embezzlement could face death, the highest penalty. Lesser penalties are life in prison or 20 years.
During the trial, Lan agreed to use the family assets to offset SCB’s losses, but wanted them revalued.
