Two albino crocodile Hermes Birkin bags that Truong My Lan, former chairwoman of property developer Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, asked for a return while she was in the dock in Ho Chi Minh City on September 27, have garnered significant public attention.

The municipal People’s Court on September 19 opened a trial for Lan and 33 of her accomplices on multiple charges, including asset appropriation, money laundering, and illegal cross-border money transport, and fake bond issuances.

The trial is set to last until October 19.

Lan said that she had two Hermes handbags seized during the investigation process.

“When I was arrested, my two Hermes handbags were confiscated, with one bought in Italy and the other presented by a Malaysian friend,” she told the court.

“I want to give them to my children or grandchildren as memorable gifts, so I expect the jury to consider returning them to me."

After her statements at the court, many Vietnamese netizens showed or put on sale multiple Hermes-labeled bags.

The number of authentic Hermes bags in the world is limited, while bags with a ‘Hermes’ label are sold widely in Vietnam.

Hermes bags cost an arm and a leg

An employee at a pawnshop on Le Thanh Ton Street in downtown Ho Chi Minh City said that the price of a Hermes handbag ranges from some thousands of U.S. dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on its version, material, and size.

“I have seen several types of luxurious bags, watches, glasses, and other accessories, but an albino crocodile Hermes Birkin bag seems strange to me,” the employee said.

“Hermes bags that were transacted at the shop by some Vietnamese customers are priced from VND1.5 billion [$61,000] to VND3 billion [$122,000] each,” the employee added.

Nam, a flight attendant of a local airline, listed some popular Hermes bag lines, including the Hermes Kelly, priced from $7,000 to $3,000 each, and the Hermes Birkin with prices ranging from $16,000 to $510,000 a piece.

“Several special versions of Hermes bags cost up to millions of dollars,” Nam said.

Bags with ‘Hermes’ label rampant in Vietnam

Many groups on Vietnamese social media platforms put on sale Hermes-labeled handbags fetching VND200,00 ($8.1) to some millions of Vietnamese dong each on September 27.

An account called Mai Anh posted images of handbags looking like Hermes ones on a social media platform, saying, “The Hermes bags are priced from VND200,000.”

Luxury Hermes bags attractive to customers

Founded in Paris in 1837, Hermes is a renowned fashion brand. Its handbags are made of crocodile skin, wool from sheep and other animal-derived materials, and are festooned with diamond and white gold.

Data released in 2009 by Meta and Bain & Company showed that the global luxury consumption dipped 7.5 percent due to the financial crisis, but the sales of Hermes rose 8.4 percent.

The third quarter of 2023 saw Hermes Birkin sales increase 16 percent year on year, while other luxury brands such as Gucci and Kering sustained a reduction in their revenue amid global economic uncertainties.

Lan accused of multiple charges

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

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 failing 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.

($1 = VND24,570)

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