Truong My Lan at the court. VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY Trương Mỹ Lan, Chairwoman of property developer Vạn Thịnh Phát Group, on April 26 filed an appeal against the entire first-instance verdict in the case that occurred at Van Thinh Phat Group JSC, Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) and relevant companies, units and organisations.

In the appeal, Lan said she had joined the restructuring process of SCB but did not misappropriate its funds. She presented several objective reasons for the risks involved in the process and requested the court of appeal to reconsider the charges against her in the first-instance trial.

Many other defendants have also submitted appeals to the Hồ Chí 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 regulations on banking operations and other activities related to banking activities" under the 1999 Penal Code. The aggregate sentence is the death penalty.

In addition to the above sentences, the court also ordered Lan to compensate the outstanding debts of 1,243 loans worth 673.85 trillion VND (28 billion USD) as of October 17, 2022 (the date when the case was prosecuted) to the SCB.

According to the indictment of the Supreme People's Procuracy, Lan built a vast network of about 1,000 subsidiaries and affiliated companies under the Vạn Thịnh Phát umbrella, entrusting their management to relatives. Despite not holding any official position at Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), Lan was its major shareholder, controlling between 85% and 91.5% of the shares.

Lan and her accomplices selected and appointed their relatives to key positions at the bank, formed a number of SCB units specialising in lending and disbursement at Lan’s request, established and used thousands of "ghost" companies. The group colluded with leaders of many related businesses to commit crimes, and created bogus loan profiles to withdraw money from the bank, among other acts.

From October 9, 2018 to October 7, 2022, Lan directed the creation of 2,527 fake loan records, with a total value of VNĐ1,066 trillion VND (US$44.4 million). As of October 17, 2022, Lan and her accomplices still owed VNĐ677.28 trillion ($26.7 million) in loans, which are all bad debts. After deducting the value of collaterals, the bad loans valued at around 498 trillion VND. 

The remaining 85 defendants were given sentences from three-year suspended imprisonment to life in prison. VNS