Hundreds of victims came to Ho Chi Minh City People's Court to watch the trial of Ms. Truong My Lan.
Báo Dân trí•19/09/2024
(Dan Tri) - Many people involved and victims in the Van Thinh Phat case came to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court early in the hope of being able to attend the trial. Many people who were not summoned had to watch from afar.
Before the trial of defendant Truong My Lan (former Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Van Thinh Phat Group), hundreds of related people and victims from various places came to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court to present their documents to attend the trial (Photo: Huu Khoa). On the morning of September 19, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court opened a trial of Ms. Truong My Lan (former Chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group) and 33 accomplices for the crimes of Fraudulent appropriation of property, Money laundering and Illegally transporting currency across the border (Photo: Hai Long). The person involved and the victim present documents to court staff to be allowed to attend the trial (Photo: Huu Khoa). At 8:30 a.m., the defendants were escorted into the courtroom. The trial was presided over by Judge Nguyen Thi Ha, Deputy Chief Justice of the Criminal Court (HCMC People's Court). The Procuracy was represented by five prosecutors and one alternate (Photo: Hai Long). In the trial this morning, escorted in last, Ms. Lan was quite calm, wearing a mask. The indictment determined that Ms. Truong My Lan proposed the policy of issuing 24 fake bond codes through 4 companies to mobilize more than 30,869 billion VND from 35,824 customers. This amount was not used for the purpose of issuing bonds, which was to invest in economic projects to generate profits, ensuring the obligation to repay principal and interest to bondholders, but was used by Ms. Lan and her accomplices for other purposes. As of the time of prosecution (October 7, 2022), the above 4 companies still had outstanding debts of 30,081 billion VND from 35,824 victims and were unable to pay (Photo: Hai Long).
Defendant Chu Lap Co (Ms. Truong My Lan's husband) and Ms. Lan's niece Truong Hue Van, who are related to the case, were also escorted to court (Photo: Hai Long). Nearly 100 lawyers defended and protected the legal rights and interests of the defendants, related parties and victims. Of these, Ms. Lan alone had 4 lawyers. A total of 534 organizations and individuals were summoned as people with related rights and obligations (Photo: Hai Long). Outside the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court, security was tightened in many layers. People without official permission or invitation from the court were not allowed to approach the court gate area (Photo: Huu Khoa). Many victims summoned to attend the trial were given seats and watched the trial via LED screens in the court yard (Photo: Huu Khoa). Dozens of victims stood in line waiting to complete procedures or tried to get into court without an invitation from the court (Photo: Hai Long). Many victims in the Van Thinh Phat case did not have an invitation from the court but still came to attend the trial. "I came here early to wait to enter the court. Although I did not have an invitation from the court, I still wanted to come and hoped to be able to go inside to watch the trial. But because I lacked the necessary documents, I had to stand outside to watch. I hope the case will soon be cleared up and the property will be returned to us, the victims," said Ms. Hoa (right) (Photo: Hai Long). Many victims are veterans and the elderly who brought documents and files related to the case to the court gate to ask to go inside (Photo: Hai Long). Outside the court, many people who are victims also came to watch the trial from afar. In this case, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court will try in absentia nearly 36,000 victims (Photo: Hai Long). The trial at the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court is expected to last until October 19 (Photo: Huu Khoa).
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