First instance trial of Van Thinh Phat case from March 5

On February 16, news from the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City said that from March 5 to April 29, the People's Court of the city will hold the first instance trial of defendants Truong My Lan (68 years old, Chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group), Chu Lap Co (68 years old) and 84 other defendants in the case.

The defendants were brought to trial for one of the following crimes: Embezzlement of property, Bribery, Receiving bribes, Violation of regulations on lending in the operations of credit institutions, Abuse of position and power while performing official duties, Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences, Abuse of trust to appropriate property.

The trial was chaired by Chief Criminal Judge Pham Luong Toan. The Supreme People's Procuracy assigned 10 prosecutors from the Supreme People's Procuracy and the Ho Chi Minh City People's Procuracy to prosecute the case.

Defendant Truong My Lan at the time of arrest.

Defendant Truong My Lan was tried for three crimes: Embezzlement, Bribery, Violation of regulations on lending in the activities of credit institutions and had five defense lawyers: Phan Trung Hoai, Phan Minh Hoang, Nguyen Huy Thiep, Giang Hong Thanh and Truong Thanh Duc.

Previously, answering VTC News, Mr. Pham Ngoc Duy, Chief of Office of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court, said that the Van Thinh Phat case related to violations in credit activities at SCB had nearly 2,500 sets of documents, packed in 104 file boxes, weighing about 6 tons, with about 1 million records.

Therefore, the Court prepared a separate room to store files, create conditions for lawyers to photocopy and research documents, and install a fire protection system and cameras for protection.

According to Mr. Duy, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court anticipated that there would be many case files, and that hundreds of lawyers would participate in defending the 86 defendants and many individuals and organizations involved in the case.

According to the indictment issued by the Supreme People's Procuracy, Truong My Lan, Chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group, was prosecuted for three crimes: Embezzlement of property, Bribery, and Violation of regulations on lending in the operations of credit institutions.

The Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency accused the defendant Truong My Lan, although not holding a position at SCB Bank, of monopolizing and controlling a series of leaders of this bank so that they could help embezzle more than 304,000 billion VND.

The Supreme People's Procuracy's indictment stated that from 2012 to October 2022, Ms. Truong My Lan had acquired and held 85 - 91.5% of SCB shares. From then on, the defendant became a shareholder with the "power" to direct, operate, and manipulate all of SCB's activities to serve her various purposes.

The Chairman of Van Thinh Phat Group and his accomplices were accused of carrying out a series of acts including: selecting and arranging his trusted personnel for key positions at SCB; establishing a number of units under SCB specializing in lending and disbursing funds at the request of Truong My Lan; establishing and using thousands of "ghost" companies, hiring many individuals; colluding with individuals who are leaders of many related enterprises to commit crimes.

In addition, Truong My Lan and her accomplices colluded with many valuation companies to inflate the value of collateral; created a large number of fake loan applications to withdraw money from SCB; devised plans to withdraw money, "cut off" cash flow after disbursement; sold bad debts, sold deferred credit loans to reduce credit balance, reduce bad debts, to conceal violations; bribed and influenced people with positions and powers in state agencies to violate their duties.

From there, Truong My Lan and her accomplices, with different positions and roles, committed many crimes of infringement on property, infringement on the operation of the Bank, and the proper operation of State agencies.

In which, the Supreme People's Procuracy determined that many acts were carried out in the form of organized complicity with sophisticated and cunning tricks, causing especially serious consequences, appropriating and causing damage to an especially large amount of money.

Regarding the case of Ms. Truong My Lan, two former SCB Chairmen and five others were prosecuted in the Van Thinh Phat case but are on the run, so the Ministry of Public Security issued a wanted notice.

The wanted persons include: Nguyen Thi Thu Suong (former Chairman of the Board of Directors of SCB), Dinh Van Thanh (former Chairman of the Board of Directors of SCB), Chiem Minh Dung (former Deputy General Director of SCB), Tram Thich Ton (former member of the Board of Directors of SCB), Sun Henry Ka Ziang (member of the Board of Directors of SCB), Lam Lee George (former member of the Board of Directors of SCB) and Nguyen Lam Anh Vu (former Deputy Director of Ben Thanh branch of SCB).

The above 7 defendants are being investigated for violations of regulations on banking activities, other activities related to banking activities and embezzlement of assets in the Van Thinh Phat case.

In conclusion, for some defendants who were former leaders of SCB Bank who have fled, the investigation agency has issued a wanted notice and called on them to surrender to receive leniency. In case they do not appear, it is considered that they have waived their right to self-defense and will be prosecuted and tried.

Hoang Tho

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