HCMC – The Ministry of Public Security is currently investigating whether Truong My Lan, chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group Corporation, was involved in money laundering and embezzlement at Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB).
Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Thanh, deputy director of the Criminal Investigation Police Department (C03), gave updates on the second phase of the investigation while speaking at a press conference on December 27. He explained that this is a major case with a large number of suspects, prompting the police to conduct the investigation in two phases.
In the second phase, the investigation is centering on allegations of Truong My Lan’s involvement in embezzlement and money laundering. Lan and her accomplices were suspected of issuing fraudulent bonds worth over VND30,000 billion through 40 businesses to acquire assets from others.
Lan is also believed to have used the illegally acquired funds for real estate investments and transfers abroad.
In the first case involving Van Thinh Phat and SCB, the investigative police at the Ministry of Public Security proposed charging Lan with bribery, violation of banking regulations, and embezzlement.
The indictment alleged that Lan, despite not holding an official position at the bank, owned 91.5% of SCB and effectively had full control of the bank. She is accused of using SCB to raise capital for Van Thinh Phat, which has over 1,000 subsidiary companies.
Police calculations suggest that Lan misappropriated a substantial VND304,096 billion from SCB, leading to accumulated interest exceeding VND129,372 billion. Losses caused by Lan are estimated to exceed VND415,000 billion.
Lan is also alleged to have directed subordinates to bribe an inspection team, including providing bribes worth US$5.2 million to Do Thi Nhan, former chief of the Inspectorate and Supervision Department II under the State Bank of Vietnam.
