On March 5, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court will try the case that occurred at Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB) and related units. More than 80 defendants will stand trial for many crimes.

In which, Ms. Truong My Lan, Chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group, was brought to trial for the crimes of "Embezzlement of property", "Bribery", stipulated in Clause 4, Article 353; Clause 4, Article 364 of the Penal Code (CPC) 2015, amended and supplemented in 2017 and the crime of "Violating regulations on lending in the activities of credit institutions", stipulated in Clause 3, Article 179 of the Penal Code 1999.

According to the Supreme People's Procuracy, Ms. Truong My Lan and her accomplices, in different positions and roles, committed many crimes infringing on property rights, the operation of the Bank, and the proper operation of State agencies. Many of these crimes were committed in the form of organized complicity, causing particularly serious consequences, appropriating and causing particularly large amounts of damage.

Ms. Truong My Lan and her accomplices committed the crime over a long period of time, while the Penal Code had fundamental changes in the handling method before and after January 1, 2018.

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Ms. Truong My Lan

The Supreme People's Procuracy believes that, according to the provisions of the 1999 Penal Code, the 2015 Penal Code and Resolution No. 41 dated June 20, 2017 of the National Assembly on the implementation of the 2015 Penal Code, amended and supplemented in 2017, effective at the time of committing the crime, then:

Criminal acts occurring before January 1, 2018 shall be handled according to the corresponding articles and clauses (Article 179) of the 1999 Penal Code. Criminal acts occurring after January 1, 2018 shall be handled according to the articles and clauses (Article 353, Article 206) of the 2015 Penal Code, taking into account the principle of favoring the accused.

Ms. Truong My Lan's violations occurred before the 2015 Penal Code took effect, so according to the above legal documents, Ms. Lan will be subject to the 1999 Penal Code for the crime of "Violating regulations on lending in the activities of credit institutions", instead of the 2015 Penal Code.

Previously, as VietNamNet reported, Ms. Truong My Lan shared with lawyer Giang Hong Thanh that she voluntarily brought all her legal assets as well as mobilized her family and called on friends to help to ensure a thorough resolution of financial and economic issues related to the consequences of the case (in case the Court ruled that Ms. Lan was guilty and responsible for compensation and redress).

Ms. Lan affirmed that with her economic conditions, reputation and ability, if the Court decides that the defendant must take responsibility for any consequences, she will fully and completely resolve them.

According to the indictment, from January 1, 2012 to October 7, 2022, Ms. Truong My Lan and her accomplices created a large number of fake loan applications to withdraw an exceptionally large amount of money. Of which, she directed the creation of 368 fake loan applications to withdraw SCB's money for various purposes. As of October 17, 2022, there was an outstanding debt of more than VND 132 trillion that could not be recovered. Ms. Lan's actions caused losses to SCB Bank of more than VND 64 trillion.

From February 9, 2018 to October 7, 2022, Ms. Lan directed the creation of fake loan documents, appropriating more than 304 trillion VND from SCB, causing a loss of more than 129 trillion VND.

To conceal the particularly weak financial situation and violations of SCB Bank discovered through inspection, so that SCB would not be put under special control and continue to be restructured, Ms. Lan directly met, discussed, and exchanged with Ms. Do Thi Nhan, Head of the Inspection Team, and directed Mr. Vo Tan Hoang Van, General Director of SCB Bank, to contact, raise the issue, and directly give Ms. Do Thi Nhan 5.2 million USD and give money and gifts to reward members of the Inspection Team.

On that basis, Ms. Nhan directed the members of the delegation to report dishonestly and incompletely the violations of SCB; deliberately concealed, covered up, and downplayed them to benefit SBC and continued to make recommendations to create conditions for this bank to be restructured. Ms. Truong My Lan's actions constituted the crime of Bribery.

The Investigation Police Agency has seized 1,237 real estates directly related to Ms. Truong My Lan; seized 8 real estates of Au Lac Quang Ninh Company Limited in Quang Ninh province related to the cooperation agreement between Ms. Truong My Lan and Tuan Chau Group, Quang Ninh.

Dozens of assets such as yachts, ships, cars and many shares of Ms. Truong My Lan were also seized.