The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court on Thursday morning opened a trial for Truong My Lan, former chairwoman of property developer Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, and 33 of her accomplices on multiple charges, including fake bond issuances.

Particularly, Lan, Truong Khanh Hoang, former acting general director at Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), Nguyen Phuong Anh, deputy general director of SPC Company, and Trinh Quang Cong, general director at Acumen Management Group Corporation, went on trial related to appropriating assets, money laundering, and illegal cross-border money transport.

The Supreme People's Procuracy of Vietnam prosecuted Vo Tan Hoang Van, former CEO of SCB, Nguyen Huu Hieu, deputy general director at Square Vietnam, Nguyen Vu Anh Thi, general director of Vietnam Infrastructure and Property Development Group Corporation, and Thai Thi Thanh Thao, former wholesale customer service director at SCB, for asset misappropriation and  illegal cross-border money transport.

Tran Thi My Dung, former deputy general director at SCB, was prosecuted for asset appropriation and money laundering.

Other defendants stood trial for the same charges. 

According to an indictment against Lan, she established Van Thinh Phat in 1992 and served as chairwoman of the firm, owning 60 percent of its stakes.

Through her relatives, legal representatives, and other individuals, Lan held major ownership at SCB and Tan Viet Securities Joint Stock Company.

From 2018 to 2020, Lan steered Dinh Van Thanh, chairman of SCB, Vo Tan Hoang Van, then-CEO of SCB, and Nguyen Phuong Hong, deputy general director at SCB to issue 25 fraudulent bond packages, with a total number of over 308 million bonds through four subsidiaries of Van Thinh Phat, including An Dong Investment Group Corporation, Quang Thuan Investment Corporation, Sunny World Investment and Development Corporation, and Ho Chi Minh City Commerce Service Corporation.

Their scam successfully mobilized capital from 35,824 investors.

She and her accomplices collected tens of trillions of Vietnamese dong from the fake bond issuances for different purposes that went against the purposes of bond issuances, leading to these firms to fail to make bond coupon payments for over 35,000 victims, according to the indictment.

For money laundering, Lan and eight of her accomplices were charged with appropriating hundreds of trillions of Vietnamese dong through embezzlement and bond issuances.

Also, Lan and her accomplices illegally transported US$4.5 billion across the border.

The trial is set to last until October 19.

($1 = VND24,580)

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