Ms. Truong My Lan cried and apologized many times when saying her last words.

On the afternoon of April 3, after nearly a month of work, the trial of Ms. Truong My Lan (68 years old, Chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group) and 85 defendants ended the debate. The defendants were given the final say before the Trial Panel deliberated.

As the first person to present, Ms. Lan thanked the police agencies, detention facilities, and temporary detention camps for creating conditions to take care of her mental health and well-being until her trial; and thanked the presiding judge for conducting the trial in a democratic manner, allowing her to present all issues. "I believe this is a trial that upholds the rule of law, deciding my final legal fate in the case," Ms. Lan said, and asked to state some thoughts, perceptions, and present her wishes.

The chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat has repeatedly expressed that she and her family have gone through the harsh times of the business world to develop many types of businesses "with the desire to contribute to the city and the country". Her husband is a Hong Kong businessman with a solid family background and always considers Vietnam as his second homeland, she asked the jury to consider.

Referring to the previous comments of the Procuracy, Ms. Lan once again said she was "hurt" when being used with "heavy" words such as: mastermind, leader, holding absolute power, committing sophisticated and cunning crimes.

"I earnestly hope that the panel of judges will reconsider the charges and provide evidence of embezzlement and bribery against me," the defendant said, and at the same time requested the court to consider that a series of businesses borrowing from SCB with outstanding debts of about VND300,000 billion, identified as being in 1,284 loans of Van Thinh Phat, are not related to her; the prosecutor's statement that only 60/1,169 assets being seized were formed before 2012 is incorrect.

Next, Ms. Lan said that she was always fully aware of the level of influence and control over the SCB management board. "I did not say it until I had my last words. I have always been seriously aware and responsible, along with a number of defendants who are former SCB officials and Van Thinh Phat employees, for the violation of banking regulations. I respectfully ask the panel of judges not to consider me as the criminal, the mastermind, and the main cause of the current consequences of SCB when evaluating the behavior," Ms. Lan said.

In addition, the Chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group also asked the court to evaluate the subjective and objective reasons leading to the failure of SCB's restructuring; and acknowledge the efforts of her and all other defendants in making SCB the bank with the largest total asset value, just behind the four state-owned banks.

Ms. Lan apologized to the Government and authorities at all levels for failing to fulfill her promise during 11 years of participating in SCB restructuring.

Finally, Ms. Lan asked the panel of judges to reduce the sentences for her husband, nephew and several other defendants so that they can soon return to work and contribute to society.

As the next person to speak last, defendant Bui Anh Dung, former Chairman of the Board of Directors of SCB, said he was very remorseful for what he had done. "The defendant is now 63 years old, and his mother is over 80 years old. With the life sentence proposed by the Procuracy, the defendant will never have a chance to see his mother again," Mr. Dung said, asking the court to impose a lenient sentence.

Tomorrow, the trial continues with final statements from the remaining defendants.

Ms. Lan was accused of using SCB as a "financial tool" to raise money for business activities and personal purposes. In 10 years (from 2012 to 2022), SCB disbursed more than 2,500 loans to Ms. Lan's group with a total amount of more than VND 1,066,000 billion - accounting for 93% of the bank's loans. By 2022, Ms. Lan's group still had nearly 1,300 loans, with an outstanding debt at SCB of more than VND 677,000 billion (VND 483,000 billion in principal, VND 193,000 billion in interest), which is in the group of uncollectible loans.

On March 19, the Procuracy determined that Ms. Lan was the mastermind, committing crimes over a long period of time with sophisticated methods, appropriating an especially large amount of money from SCB, so it proposed that the People's Court sentence her to death for the crimes of violating regulations on lending in the operations of credit institutions, embezzlement of property and bribery.

Defending Ms. Lan in recent days, 5 lawyers said that their client did not commit the crime of embezzlement.,The amount of damage is not as much as alleged, requesting to re-evaluate the seized assets... However, the representative of the Procuracy rejected all the defense content, maintaining the prosecution's viewpoint.