On the afternoon of March 11, the trial of defendant Truong My Lan and her accomplices continued with the questioning of the prosecutor.

Responding to the question of the representative of the People's Procuracy about the meetings with defendant Truong My Lan, defendant Tran Thi My Dung (former Deputy General Director of SCB Bank) stated that most of these meetings were for Ms. Lan to discuss withdrawing money.

According to Ms. Dung, defendant Truong Hue Van was also present at the meetings, but defendant Van was often silent and did not say anything. Only when she encountered difficulties in disbursing money did Ms. Truong My Lan direct Truong Hue Van to establish a "ghost" company to withdraw money.

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Defendant Truong My Lan. Photo: Nguyen Hue

The former Deputy General Director of SCB Bank affirmed that the defendant did not participate in the establishment of the "ghost" companies. Every time Ms. Lan needed money, she would meet the defendant. Then the defendant contacted the defendant Nguyen Phuong Anh (Deputy General Director of Saigon Peninsula Company) to receive loan information.

“This morning, Ms. Truong My Lan stated that the defendant and the bank leaders and employees created the loans themselves. How does the defendant explain this?”, the representative of the People’s Procuracy asked the defendant Dung.

"The defendant has worked with Ms. Lan for a long time, always trusting and loyal. This morning, Ms. Lan testified like that, the defendant did not know what to say, only knowing that the defendant was too trusting. Not only the defendant, but the other brothers and sisters also put their trust in Ms. Lan. Mr. Vo Tan Hoang Van once told the defendant, we brothers are not talented, so we trust in a good boss and work," defendant Dung said, bursting into tears.

Previously, answering the questioning of the representative of the People's Procuracy, defendant Truong Khanh Hoang (Acting General Director of SCB Bank) stated that he knew that Ms. Truong My Lan was the real owner of the bank around September 2019 when she attended a meeting with SCB leaders.

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Defendant Truong Hue Van at the trial on the afternoon of March 11. Photo: Nguyen Hue

Also according to defendant Hoang's testimony, during the working process, Ms. Lan was the one who decided to appoint the defendant to the position of Deputy General Director and then Acting General Director of SCB bank.

Regarding the withdrawal of money from SCB, Hoang stated that before Truong My Lan needed money, she would meet with SCB leaders and direct the defendant to be the focal point to prepare documents, collateral and the amount of money to be disbursed.

Regarding the method by which Truong My Lan transferred money abroad, defendant Hoang stated that as the acting General Director, he approved many orders to transfer money abroad to pay for shares of foreign companies and transferred deposits to buy assets abroad for Ms. Lan. Afterwards, the defendant was also the one who completed the procedures to cancel the deposit and no longer buy assets and shares.

According to defendant Hoang, the amount of money transferred abroad was very large. In addition, the defendant also approved many money transfer orders to pay the credit card balances when Truong My Lan went abroad.

Responding to the questioning of the representative of the People's Procuracy, defendant Bui Anh Dung (Chairman of the Board of Directors of SCB Bank) stated that Ms. Truong My Lan was the person who decided on senior personnel of SCB Bank. According to the books, Ms. Lan held about 4.9% of shares, but defendant Dung himself guessed that Ms. Lan held a large number of shares but did not know how many.

Defendant Vo Tan Hoang Van, General Director of SCB Bank, stated that before working for SCB, he did not know who Ms. Truong My Lan was. Until Nguyen Thi Thu Suong (former Chairman of the Board of Directors of SCB Bank) and defendant Dinh Van Thanh (former Chairman of the Board of Directors of SCB Bank) brought him to meet Ms. Truong My Lan and introduced her as a major shareholder of the bank.