Jailed Vietnamese property tycoon Truong My Lan, whose family built a cache of properties in Hong Kong and Singapore worth hundreds of millions of dollars, has been indicted with 85 co-defendants on charges of embezzling VND 304 trillion ($12 billion) from a privately-invested local bank.
Truong, who founded and chaired property firm Van Thinh Phat, together with her co-defendants, was indicted on 13 December on charges of embezzlement, violations of banking regulations, dereliction of responsibility causing grave consequences, abuse of positions of power, payment and receipt of bribes, and abuse of trust to appropriate property, according to an official government release.
The entrepreneur-turned-detainee is said to have worked with accomplices in her company, private investment firm An Dong Group, at Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) and in the government to create 916 false loan documents granting access to VND 304 trillion in funds from SCB, which caused the lender VND 129 trillion in losses from 9 February 2018 through 7 October 2022, when Truong was arrested.
The indictment cites the alleged fraud by Truong and her accomplices at 10 times earlier estimates, with the government having accused the gang in December last year of having scammed investors of VND 30 trillion. Singapore’s Viva Land, which has been linked to Truong, has since sold a pair of Singapore properties for a combined $428 million, while her husband Eric Chu, is understood to be marketing Hong Kong assets including the Nexxus office building in Central.
Controlling a Major Lender
The indictment by the Supreme People’s Procuracy points to Truong having gained control of a stake of approximately 85 to 91.5 percent of SCB from 2012 to 2022, which she used to “direct, operate and essentially manipulate” operations of one of Vietnam’s largest privately-invested commercial banks.
“Truong My Lan and [her] accomplices, with different positions and roles, committed many crimes infringing on property, the bank’s operations and the proper operation of state agencies. Many crimes are committed in the form of organized accomplices, using sophisticated and cunning tricks, causing particularly serious consequences, [involving] particularly large amounts of money,” an English translation of the notice read.
Co-defendants in the case include 41 former SCB executives, 15 ex-central bank officers, three former government officials and an ex-state auditor. Five of the SCB officers remain at large, according to a separate notice on Tuesday.
Timing for the trial has not yet been made public.
Having placed co-conspirators in positions of authority at the bank, the indictment accuses Truong of using SCB to source capital for Van Thinh Phat and to fund the group’s real estate acquisitions and investments.
Truong and her team were also accused of setting up ghost companies and hiring individuals to sign loan documents and validate withdrawals and deposits, while colluding with appraisal agencies to fabricate any increases in the value of collateral assets.
The syndicate is also accused of creating false loan applications to withdraw funds from SCB, with Truong having directed bank officials to bribe government officials and other authorities to cover their tracks.
Motivated Sellers
With Truong having been held since her arrest in October, her family, businesses and associates have been rapidly disposing of properties linked to the alleged-illicit empire at home and abroad.
Just last month, Viva Land, which has links to Truong and Van Thinh Phat, agreed to sell the Hotel Telegraph along Singapore’s Robinson Road for around S$170 million to S$180 million ($125 to $133 million). The company is estimated to be incurring a S$70 million loss on the disposal after paying a record S$240 million for the 134-key property in 2022.
Sunray Woodcraft Construction, which is acquiring the hotel at that 30 percent discount, was also a minority shareholder in a consortium that acquired 39 Robinson Road from Viva Land in March for S$399 million.
Viva Land shares management with HCMC-based Viva Land Management & Development, one of the companies under the Van Thinh Phat empire. The Singaporean firm had reportedly had its pair of adjoining Robinson Road properties on the market since January of this year.
Truong’s husband, Hong Kong businessman Eric Chu has also been trimming his property holdings in the region. In February, Chu sold a development site in Hong Kong’s Quarry Bay for HK$435 million (then $55.46 million), or about 36 percent less than the price he paid to acquire the asset in 2018.
Chu and Truong are estimated to have HK$8 billion in Hong Kong property assets, with the family said to have had an offer to sell the Nexxus Building on Des Voeux Road for HK$6 billion in August of this year.
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