Why does the Ministry of Public Security continue to clarify projects related to Ms. Truong My Lan?

The People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City has just announced the verdict, sentencing Ms. Truong My Lan, 68 years old, to life in prison for three crimes of fraud, money laundering and illegal transportation of currency across the border, related to violations in phase 2 of the case that occurred at Van Thinh Phat Group.

The court also made a decision on the handling of the "huge" assets that had been seized and frozen related to Ms. Lan in the case. However, there were still many project transactions between Ms. Lan and her partners that had not been clarified, affecting the protection of the rights of many victims who bought bonds, so the court transferred them to C03 for further investigation and handling.

Ben Thanh Quadrangle Project (The Spirit of Saigon)

The investigation results so far determined that, based on the agreement between Ms. Lan and Bitexco Group on transferring the project to Van Thinh Phat Group for VND 22,000 billion (in 2018), Saigon Glory Company Limited was established (Bitexco Group owns 100% of the contributed capital) as the sole investor. Ms. Lan transferred VND 15,712 billion to Bitexco Group but the two parties have not yet completed the company transfer procedures.

According to the Trial Panel (HDX), the case file shows that there was an oral agreement between Ms. Lan and the leaders of Bitexco Group on the above transfer. The minutes of verification and document collection at SCB (June 21, 2024) and the minutes of verification of Bitexco Group, the additional records of C03, the payment statistics table of Bitexco, show that Bitexco received 15,712 billion VND.

Ms. Lan assigned Nguyen Phuong Hong (Deputy General Director of SCB Bank, deceased) to monitor the money transfer on 2 computers. Of which, 10,140 billion VND was transferred via bank transfer, the rest was in cash.

Regarding the source of payment for the above amount, through verification and checking of SCB loans in accordance with the time frame on the payment statement between Bitexco group and Ms. Lan, there was 4,100 billion VND withdrawn from SCB loan.

Based on Ms. Lan's testimony and the investigation results, the court determined that the remaining 11,612 billion VND was Ms. Lan's money, money Ms. Lan borrowed from banks and money from issuing bonds of Saigon Glory Company.

However, because Nguyen Phuong Hong is dead, the investigation agency cannot separate the remaining money.

In court, Ms. Lan stated that she "had a verbal agreement with the chairman of Bitexco" to find a partner to transfer the project for 22,000 billion VND.

The defendant transferred a total of 7,000 billion VND to this enterprise many times to receive the project transfer, and she told the Bitexco chairman that "if a third party comes to receive the project transfer, this amount and 30% of the value of 7,000 billion VND must be returned". The defendant will use this amount to remedy the consequences of the case.

Meanwhile, Bitexco representative stated that although Saigon Glory Company is legally owned by Bitexco, defendant Lan sent people to the company to manage and operate, using this company to issue bonds worth VND10,000 billion and borrow VND13,000 billion from Techcombank. The project assets are managed by the bank according to the asset mortgage contract.

The investigation agency determined that this money was used by defendant Lan for personal purposes, causing the consequences of the case, leaving Glory Company and the Ben Thanh Quadrangle project with a debt of more than 32,000 billion VND - including the obligation to pay the bond package, repay loans and other obligations.

Therefore, to ensure the rights of the parties, Bitexco's representative requested the court to accept the agreement between the group and related parties on the plan to transfer the entire project to Hanoi Phuong Dong Real Estate Company. At the same time, this company is obliged to guarantee payment for the bond packages, loans and not to recover the amount of VND 15,712 billion.

During the trial, on October 1, C03 issued a document stating that Ms. Lan had only transferred 15,712 out of 22,000 billion VND, the transfer had not been completed so Bitexco was still the owner of Saigon Glory Company.

Economically, the parties have not yet fulfilled their obligations under the agreement, so the parties are obliged to return to each other what they have received.

Accordingly, Ms. Lan received 15,712 billion VND and handed over the Ben Thanh Quadrangle project to Saigon Glory Company and Bitexco Group. The investigation agency requested the court to recover the above amount.

However, Ms. Lan used the bond issuing company for personal purposes and Van Thinh Phat Group, so far unable to repay the above 23,000 billion debt, resulting in principal and interest of 33,000 billion VND - exceeding the amount Ms. Lan transferred to Bitexco.

In August, Ms. Lan's family representative agreed to let Bitexco transfer Saigon Glory Company and the entire project status, assets, rights and obligations of the project to Phuong Dong Ha Noi Company.

To date, Ms. Lan has not requested to recover the amount transferred to Bitexco. Hanoi Oriental Company is carrying out the final legal procedures to handle the obligations of the above parties, including the responsibility to pay the principal and interest of the bond package and loan.

The People's Court said that regarding the amount of VND 15,712 billion between Ms. Lan and Bitexco, C03 has transferred documents and files to the Supreme People's Procuracy to consider civil and criminal liability according to the provisions of law.

"The panel of judges found that there were many documents related to this project that had not been clarified and were inconsistent with the defendant Lan's testimony, so they were transferred to C03 for further verification and clarification, and handling according to the provisions of the law," the verdict stated.

Industrial park and residential area in Tan Lap commune, Thu Thua district, Long An

The project was granted a land use right certificate by the Long An Provincial People's Committee with an area of ​​1,800 hectares. The investigation results determined that on August 1, 2022, 100% of the shares of Tan Thanh Long An Company (under Van Thinh Phat Group) signed a transfer contract to Ms. Vo Thi Kim Khoa for VND 30,000 billion.

All ownership and operation rights of the company and the right to invest in construction and development of the project will be transferred to the transferee. Ms. Khoa has transferred a deposit of 1,750 billion VND and become the owner of Tan Thanh Long An Company.

At court, defendant Lan and Ms. Khoa's side admitted that there was an agreement to transfer the above project for 30,000 billion VND, Ms. Khoa was the legal representative of the company.

The transfer value of the project is being mortgaged to secure the 15,000 billion VND obligation of the Tan Thanh Long An, Van Truong Phat bond package and the 4,800 billion VND Lotus bond package.

Defendant Lan agreed to adjust the price down to VND20,000 billion. This value is deducted from the debt repayment obligation of the two VND15,000 billion bond packages, the deposit and other outstanding obligations (eliminating the obligation of the Lotus bond package). Ms. Khoa must transfer VND2,500 billion to Ms. Lan to remedy the consequences of the case in this second phase.

In the petition sent to the court on October 1, Ms. Khoa agreed to adjust the price down to VND20,000 billion, deducting the obligation for the VND15,000 billion bond package, the deposit and other outstanding obligations.

Ms. Khoa has not yet agreed on other outstanding obligations of Tan Thanh Long An Company, so she has not agreed to transfer the amount of 2,500 billion VND to Ms. Lan, and requested payment in cash or products at the project.

According to the People's Court, after the incident, the parties adjusted the price from 30,000 billion VND to 20,000 billion VND (because the project's area was partially reclaimed by the Long An Provincial People's Committee).

However, this transfer price adjustment is not in accordance with the spirit of the draft general contract signed by the parties on August 11, 2022.

"This has a general impact on the security rights related to the issuance of VND19,800 billion bond packages and changes in the project transfer value compared to the time before the incident occurred," the court stated.

Because the two parties have not yet determined the outstanding obligations according to the general agreement, the People's Court transferred the case to C03 for further verification and clarification for handling.

Similarly, in addition to these two projects, the court also transferred the transfer of the Sing-Viet Urban Area project and some other assets to C03 for further verification, clarification and handling according to the provisions of law.

Within the scope of phase 2 of the Van Thinh Phat case, the court determined that Ms. Truong My Lan played a key role with her accomplices in committing fraud and appropriating 30,000 billion VND from 35,824 bondholders through using companies under the Van Thinh Phat Group to issue bonds.

In addition, the defendants also committed money laundering - concealing the source of money obtained by embezzling from SCB and part of the money from bond issuance, totaling 445,747 billion VND and illegally transporting currency across the border. (4.5 billion USD - equivalent to 106,730 billion VND) through blank contracts.

Regarding civil liability, the panel determined that all of the money embezzled, VND30,081 billion, from the bond issuance was used by Ms. Lan for personal purposes, so she must be responsible for remedying the consequences.

The court continued to seize the assets of Ms. Lan and her family related to the violations to ensure the execution of the judgment.