We are all equal before justice, but having money allows you to hire good lawyers. This phrase, which has proven valid in many jurisdictions around the world, was not valid in Vietnam. Truong My LanThe richest woman in the country was sentenced to death for economic fraud worth more than $12 billion.

A court in Ho Chi Minh (former Saigon) found the 67-year-old millionaire guilty of bribery, embezzlement, violating banking law and abuse of office. An exemplary death penalty is very unusual in economic crimes.

In addition, the court was particularly harsh on the millionaire because the defendant committed crimes with serious consequences for the country’s economy, which deprived him of the opportunity to recover the funds he defrauded and “violated the public’s trust in the leadership of the monarch.” “In the Communist Party and the State”, published in local media, Finance Times.

The perfect blow is made from the inside

Lan is chairman of property developer Van Thinh Phat Grou, one of the country’s largest. He is also one of the main supporters of the merger of three small banking institutions in the Ho Chi Minh region. Saigon Commercial Bank.

Vietnamese law prohibits any individual or private company from controlling more than 5% of a bank’s shares. However, prosecutors who attended the hearing assure that the millionaire may have used shell companies and hundreds of fictitious companies to obtain this money. Up to 90% control shares of the financial institution.

Ten prosecutors and more than 2,700 witnesses who testified at the month-long macro trial revealed that Lan took advantage of this position of control over the bank to withdraw more than $4,000 million in cash. in the basement of his house. In the decision, the court demands that Truong My Lan pay compensation of 25 billion dollars.

Vietnamese justice has charged 85 people, including central bank officials, with complicity in accepting bribes and kickbacks for approving illegal loans to Lan shell companies. These loans represented 93% of the business’s total debt.

Truong My Lan’s macro trial and harsh sentence are part of the personal struggle of Nguyen Xuan Phuc, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. eliminate corruption endemic disease from which the country has suffered for decades.

Since 2016, this cleansing campaign has resulted in the resignation of the country’s two presidents and two deputy prime ministers. Hundreds of officials have been charged or imprisoned for corrupt practices. The harshness of the sentence suggests that it was more of a warning to the sailors about Vietnam’s zero-tolerance policy for corruption in the justice system.

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Image | Wikimedia Commons (State Duma), HUU HANH