Truong My Lan, whose Vietnamese name is Trương Mỹ Lan, is the richest woman in Vietnam, the founder and chairman of VTP Group, and her ancestral home is Shantou, Guangdong, China. Together with her husband Chu Liji, she co-founded VTP Group and grew it into one of the largest private real estate companies in Vietnam. Chang's entrepreneurial journey is closely related to her personal life, and her success and subsequent legal problems reflect her business style and decision-making.
Cheung and Zhu Liji's business started out as a trader, but later expanded into restaurants and hotels, and then into real estate development. Their commitment to Vietnam has received a number of accolades, including the most exclusive Windsor Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, which was rated a five-star hotel in 2006 and was designated by the Vietnamese government as the venue for the 2006 APEC summit. In addition, in 2004, Mr. and Mrs. Truong My Lan built the most upscale Windsor Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City at that time, which became a commercial landmark in Vietnam.
However, Chang's success is not without controversy. Between 2018 and 2019, she illegally issued bonds to raise trillions of VND from investors. In October 2022, the Vietnamese police officially announced that Truong My Lan had been arrested on suspicion of financial fraud. The indictment of the Supreme People's Procuratorate of Vietnam clearly pointed out that Truong My Lan committed illegal acts: from January 1, 2012 to October 7, 2022, Truong My Lan and her co-defendants forged a large number of loan procedures and withdrew huge sums of money from Saigon Commercial Bank, which Truong Mei Lan actually controlled, for different purposes. As of October 2022, Zhang Meilan and her accomplices still have 1,284 outstanding loans with SCB. Truong My Lan was prosecuted by the Supreme People's Procuratorate of Vietnam on three charges: embezzlement of property, bribery, and violation of loan regulations in the activities of credit organizations.
On April 11, 2024, Zhang Meilan was sentenced to death. Her case became the largest financial fraud case in Vietnam's history, involving as much as 304 trillion VND (about 90 billion yuan). Truong My Lan's crime is divided into two stages: from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2017, Truong My Lan violated the relevant regulations on bank business activities, causing losses of more than VND 64 trillion (about 2.5 billion U.S. dollars) to Saigon Commercial Bank, and from January 1, 2018 to October 7, 2022, Truong My Lan was suspected of embezzlement, and the assets and interest generated caused losses of 433 trillion VND (about 17.3 billion U.S. dollars) to the bank.
Chang's use of loans to finance individuals and companies involves a complex range of financial operations and frauds. Between 2012 and 2022, she arranged more than 2,500 loans totaling more than 1,000 trillion VND (about 300 billion yuan) from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) through forged documents and fraudulent means. These loans mainly went to VTP Group and its related companies.
Specifically, Zhang Meilan and her co-conspirators operated in the following ways:
1. Falsification of loan documents: Zhang Meilan and her accomplices forged a large number of loan documents, including false financial statements and contracts, in order to prove the legitimacy of the loan and the ability to repay.
2. Internal collusion: Teo used her influence in Saigon Commercial Bank to collude with the bank's insiders to enable the loans to be approved.
3. Fund flow: The funds obtained from the loan are used for the operation of VTP Group, as well as for Zhang Meilan's personal luxury life and investment. The use of these funds is often untransparent and difficult to trace.
4. Revolving Loans: Zhang Meilan maintains the flow of funds by constantly revolving loans and using new loans to repay the interest on old loans. This practice eventually led to a huge funding hole.
5. Abuse of power: As the head of VTP Group, Zhang Meilan used her power to confuse the company's financial situation with her personal finances, so that the company's funds were used for personal purposes.
These actions ultimately led to huge losses for Saigon Commercial Bank, as well as significant losses for investors and depositors. Truong My Lan was sentenced to death, and her case became one of the largest financial fraud cases in Vietnam's history.
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