Van Thinh Phat chairwoman wants $28M villa excluded from compensation assets

The 68-year-old chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat, who is on trial for several crimes including embezzling from SCB over a 10-year period, told the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City Friday that she bought the 3,000 sq.m villa in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 3 several years ago.

"Please let my daughter keep the villa so she can maintain and preserve it as a Vietnamese relic."

Lan has offered other assets to repay the money she allegedly misappropriated from SCB, including the Capital Place office building in Hanoi, which she earlier told the court was worth $1 billion.

But her daughter, Chu Diep Phan, recently told the court a buyer is paying only $360 million for it.

Capital Place building in Hanoi. Photo courtesy of the building

The building has been mortgaged at four different banks for $230 million for loans. After paying off the banks, the remaining amount will be handed to the court to pay SCB.

Lan’s family has a 73% stake in Bong Sen Corp, which operates the Daewoo Hanoi hotel, and her daughter has offered to sell the hotel.

An investor has offered to buy Lan’s shares in an insurance company for $40 million.

Phan is also selling her shares in a vaccine manufacturer for which she had paid VND315 billion.

A company that has received VND960 billion from Van Thinh Phat for two property projects has asked to return the money and cancel the contract.

The prosecution wants Lan to pay SCB VND498 trillion to compensate for the losses she had caused the bank, but it wants VND760 trillion plus the rights to all assets that have been mismanaged by Lan.

At the ongoing trial, Lan faces charges of bribery, violating banking regulations and embezzlement.

Between 2012 and 2022 she allegedly instructed the SCB management to give her loans worth over VND1 quadrillion ($44 billion), equivalent to 93% of its entire loan portfolio.

The trial is scheduled to go on until April 29.