The Spirit of Saigon building in HCM City's District 1 halted development at the end of 2022 after the arrest of chairwoman Trương Mỹ Lan. The court has ordered police to investigate discrepancies related to the project. — VNS Photo Bồ Xuân Hiệp

HCM CITY — The assets of convicted real estate magnate Trương Mỹ Lan, chairwoman of Vạn Thịnh Phát Group, including holdings in companies and real estate properties, will remain frozen to facilitate compensation for 36,000 victims as the authorities attempt to untangle Việt Nam’s worst financial fraud.

The HCM City People’s Court on Thursday ruled that the majority of Lan’s assets will continue to be confiscated as part of efforts to compensate victims.

This includes her 18 per cent stake in a venture that owns the Vietcombank – Bonday – Bến Thành Building, one of the tallest skyscrapers in HCM City.

In addition, the list of confiscated assets includes her shares valued at VNĐ4.5 trillion in property developer Ngọc Viễn Đông and VNĐ600 billion (US$23.8 million) in FWD Insurance.

Regarding “The Spirit of Saigon” building project in HCM City’s District 1, although Lan had disbursed VNĐ15.7 trillion ($624 million) to the Bitexco Group to acquire it, the court noted that VNĐ4 trillion of these funds was derived from embezzlement at Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB). 

So the court has mandated that the police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding this transaction due to discrepancies in the information provided.

The judges, however, ordered the release of a property located at 29 Liễu Giai in Hà Nội, owned by Lan’s daughter, as it was deemed unrelated to the case.

In addition, the court lifted the freeze on the bank accounts of Lan’s husband, Eric Chu, following his return of VNĐ33 billion that had been laundered. 

An account containing VNĐ10 billion belonging to Lan’s brother has also been unfrozen. However, accounts totalling VNĐ100 billion held by other family members remain subject to the freeze.

After a month-long trial, the court sentenced Lan to life imprisonment for offenses including fraud, money laundering, and illegal cross-border currency transfer, adding to her previous death sentence for embezzlement.

The court found Lan culpable for defrauding nearly VNĐ31 trillion ($1.23 billion) from around 36,000 bond investors, laundering VNĐ445.7 trillion, and illegally transferring $4.5 billion abroad.

Between 2018 and 2020, in collaboration with executives from SCB and the Vạn Thịnh Phát Group, Lan utilised four companies to issue 25 fraudulent bond tranches, as established by judicial findings.

The schemes orchestrated by Lan were facilitated by corrupt officials, including a former central bank inspector who has since been sentenced to life imprisonment for accepting $5.2 million in bribes to overlook the misconduct at SCB.

Funds obtained from the sale of the fraudulent bonds were utilised to settle debts, address financial challenges faced by SCB, and invest in various real estate projects, with substantial amounts unlawfully transferred abroad.

Lan committed to using all her assets to compensate the victims of her fraudulent activities.

She was sentenced to death in a prior trial in April for embezzling VNĐ677 trillion from SCB; however, she has appealed that verdict. — VNS