Within the grand yellow portico of Ho Chi Minh City’s colonial-era courthouse, Truong My Lan, a 67-year-old Vietnamese property developer, received a rare and severe sentence on Thursday. Over an 11-year span, she systematically plundered one of the nation’s largest banks, culminating in a death sentence, a fate uncommon for white-collar crimes, particularly among women in Vietnam.
This verdict underscores the staggering magnitude of the fraud. Truong My Lan was found guilty of orchestrating loans totaling $44 billion from the Saigon Commercial Bank. While the court demands restitution of $27 billion, prosecutors acknowledge the likelihood of recovering such a sum is slim. Some speculate that the death penalty serves as a coercive measure to encourage the return of the embezzled billions.
In a departure from their customary secrecy, Vietnamese authorities provided intricate details of the case to the media. Over 2,700 individuals testified, with 10 state prosecutors and approximately 200 lawyers involved. The evidence, spanning 104 boxes weighing six tonnes, showcased the enormity of the trial, involving 85 defendants alongside Truong My Lan, who adamantly denied the accusations.
“This trial stands out as unprecedented in the communist era,” remarks David Brown, a retired US State Department official versed in Vietnamese affairs. “Nothing of this scale has been witnessed before.”
The trial marks a dramatic chapter in the “Blazing Furnaces” anti-corruption campaign, spearheaded by Communist Party Secretary-General Nguyen Phu Trong. Fearing that unchecked corruption threatens the party’s grip on power, Trong initiated the campaign in 2016, targeting high-ranking officials, including two presidents and two deputy prime ministers. Truong My Lan, once among the country’s wealthiest, now joins the ranks of the disgraced.
Hailing from a prominent Sino-Vietnamese family in Ho Chi Minh City, Truong My Lan ascended from humble beginnings as a market vendor to a property tycoon. Leveraging economic reforms in the late 1980s, she amassed a vast real estate portfolio, culminating in her pivotal role in merging three struggling banks into Saigon Commercial Bank in 2011.
Despite legal limits on individual bank ownership, Truong My Lan allegedly wielded immense control, surpassing the stipulated 5% threshold through a labyrinthine network of shell companies and proxies. Prosecutors assert that she used this authority to approve exorbitant loans to her affiliated entities, comprising 93% of the bank’s lending.
The trial unveiled staggering sums withdrawn by Truong My Lan, including over $4 billion in cash stashed in her basement within three years. Allegations of bribery further tarnished her image, revealing a system of corruption ingrained within the financial sector.
While the trial spotlighted public outrage over corruption, questions linger regarding the duration of Truong My Lan’s illicit activities. Observers speculate about her perceived protection by entrenched elites in Ho Chi Minh City and the broader political motives driving the trial. Secretary-General Trong’s quest to reassert control over the southern business hub underscores broader tensions between economic growth and endemic corruption in Vietnam’s political landscape. As the nation charts a path towards prosperity, navigating this paradox remains paramount, lest the pursuit of justice imperil economic vitality.
