Vietnam property developer faces trial over $12.5bn bond fraud

HANOI - The chairwoman of major property developer Van Thinh Phat will go on trial in Vietnam, accused with accomplices of embezzling $12.5-billion from a bank "for personal purposes", the official government website said.

Truong My Lan will be tried at the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court, the website reported Sunday, without specifying when the trial would start.

She will be prosecuted for embezzlement, bribery, and violating banking regulations.

Lan is accused of setting up fake loan applications to withdraw money from Saigon Commercial Bank, where she held more than 90 percent of the bank's shares, according to the government website.

"From February 9, 2018 to October 7, 2022, Truong My Lan gave orders to set up 916 fake loan applications, appropriating more than 304 trillion dong ($12.5-billion) from SCB," it said.

Eighty-five others, including a former official at the State Bank of Vietnam who is accused of accepting $5.2-million in bribes, will also face trial at the court in Ho Chi Minh City.

Founded in 1992, Van Thinh Phat owns high-end hotels, restaurants and luxury apartments, and has also invested in financial services.

The value of Lan's alleged asset appropriation is equivalent to around three percent of Vietnam's total GDP for 2022.

Vietnam has seen a sweeping government crackdown on corrupt officials and members of the country's business elite in recent years.

The sweep has been driven by powerful Communist Party Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong, who last month demanded the purge press ahead "faster and in a more efficient manner".

More than 3,500 people have been indicted across more than 1,300 graft cases since 2021.