The People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City has completed the questioning of all defendants and witnesses over a three-week trial, and is set for sentencing on Thursday.
Lan, the chairwoman of property developer Van Thinh Phat, has admitted to her crimes and taken responsibility for recompensing 35,800 investors who bought bonds issued by its subsidiaries, saying she would sell major properties to raise money.
Among them is mega project Amigo in HCMC’s District 1 close to many iconic landmarks.
Planned as a 11,000-square-meter development, it has yet to complete land acquisition. It has paid compensation for 71% of the lots so far.
The project is surrounded by restaurants and eateries thanks to the large pedestrian traffic in the area.
Land clearance has been going on for 30 years and is almost complete, Lan told the court.
Another nearby building belongs to a venture between state-owned Vietcombank and two other firms. The Vietcombank – Bonday – Ben Thanh Building is one of the tallest skyscrapers in the city.
Lan owns an 18% stake in the venture. She bought them in 2011 in the hope of “giving her grandchildren some profit” from it.
She claimed the money she paid to acquire the stake was not sourced from SCB, with the merger of three banks to create the lender was not even completed at the time of the deal.
Lan has agreed to sell her shares to Vietcombank for VND920 billion (US$37 million), which would be used to compensate bond victims after deducting taxes.
The building has four street frontages and views of the Saigon River and the Thu Thiem Urban Area beyond it.
The Nha Rong – Khanh Hoi port complex on the Saigon River in District 4 is developed by a subsidiary of Van Thinh Phat in which Lan owns an 84.8% stake worth VND4.58 trillion.
She bought the shares with her family’s money and not SCB’s, she said.
Land acquisition for the project is almost finished.
In the suburban district of Binh Chanh, the 6A residential property project remains undeveloped.
Lan told the court that some buyers offered VND30-40 trillion for it in the past, but she refused since its paperwork was not complete.
She said she is now willing to sell the lot for VND20 trillion.
Land clearance has been going on for 20 years, but negotiations have not been completed for around one hectare of land.
People use the lot as a thoroughfare to save time.
Some people still live on the project premises in temporary houses.
An unidentified person from the U.S. has offered to help Lan compensate bond victims as long as she is willing to let them manage this project.
The Spirit of Saigon, a building under construction opposite Ben Thanh Market, was expected to become an architectural landmark for the city.
In 2018 Lan bought shares in the building from Bitexco Group for VND22 trillion, and has paid more than 70% of the amount.
Meant to be a $500-million hotel-office complex, its construction has been on now off now due to frequent changes in ownership.
In what is Lan’s second trial this year, she faces charges of fraudulent asset appropriation, “money laundering,” and illegal cross-border money transfers.
She allegedly defrauded 35,800 bond investors by issuing bonds worth VND30 trillion and never redeeming them.
In the first trial in April she was given the death penalty for embezzling VND677 trillion from Saigon Commercial Bank.
She has appealed the verdict.
