Two tons of dollars in the basement. Incredible details about the billionaire woman sentenced to death

New details of the biggest corruption scandal in Vietnam have become known, in which one of the richest women in the country, 67-year-old Truong Mi Lan, was sentenced to death by a tribunal in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), BGNES reports.

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She was accused of fraud that affected at least 42,000 people. Lan is the head of a major real estate company and is one of the few women in Vietnam to face the death penalty.

According to investigators, she illegally received about $12.5 billion from Saigon Commercial Bank, in which she actually owned 90% of the shares. At the same time, the total damages are estimated even higher – at 27 billion dollars: that’s exactly how much the court ordered her to return.

Truong Mi Lan herself did not admit her guilt and blamed her subordinates for what happened. She now plans to appeal the sentence.

This case is reported to be a blow not only to ordinary citizens who have invested their funds in this bank, but also to foreign investors and the country’s economy as a whole.

Ten prosecutors participated in the trial, 200 lawyers were hired, 2,700 people testified, and incriminating materials filled 104 boxes and weighed a total of six tons.

Truong Mi Lan did not appear alone in court: 85 other people are awaiting sentencing with her, including her husband, wealthy Hong Kong businessman Eric Chu, as well as a senior inspector at the State Bank of Vietnam, who received $5.2 million from the woman for keeping quiet about the fraud.

This is the biggest bribe in the country’s history.

Police believe all holders of Saigon Commercial Bank securities were victims of fraud and were unable to withdraw their money or receive interest or payments. In total, about 42,000 people are affected.

Prosecutors noted that as of 2019, Truong Mi Lan, with the help of a driver, took about $4 billion from the bank over three years to store in the basement. According to the most modest estimates, the weight of such capital is at least two tons. All of the defendants except Truong face lengthy sentences of up to 15 years in prison or life in prison.

But all admitted guilt and repented, some even returned the money. Vietnamese media have noted that the death penalty will also be used as a threat – presumably to force her to return at least some of the money and reduce the damage from her actions.

Truong Mi Lan was born into a Chinese-Vietnamese family in Ho Chi Minh City. He started trading in the market and selling cosmetics with his mother. In 1986, the Vietnamese government began to introduce economic reforms that allowed people to own private property.

So Truong My Lan started buying land and real estate. By the 1990s, she owned several hotels and restaurants, and by 2011 she had become one of the most powerful women in Ho Chi Minh City, allowing her to arrange the merger of three small banks experiencing financial difficulties, as thus forming the larger Saigon Commercial bank. Her husband and niece were involved in her fraudulent scheme, and they received 9 and 17 years in prison.

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