Vietnamese tycoon Truong My Lan on death row over the world’s biggest bank fraud
Property tycoon Truong My Lan has been found guilty of a corruption scandal that dwarfs Malaysia’s 1MDB fraud and Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto scam

When Vietnamese property tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced to death in April for masterminding what is claimed to be the world’s biggest bank fraud, the verdict sent shockwaves through the country. Having lost her appeal this month, the 68-year-old is now in a race against time, says the BBC.
Under Vietnamese law, Lan could get her sentence commuted to life imprisonment if she can raise 75% of the $12 billion she’s convicted of embezzling from the Saigon Commercial Bank to repay victims. She urgently needs $9 billion – an eye-watering sum to raise, and with many of her assets frozen, she may have to call upon friends. She’ll soon find out if any are willing to stand by her.
During her trial, parts of which were live-streamed outside the court in Ho Chi Minh City, Lan was sometimes defiant. But in recent hearings, she has appeared more contrite. Perhaps “the gargantuan scale of the fraud” has finally sunk in, says CNN. Lan – who chairs developer Van Thinh Phat, which owns some of the most prized hotels, luxury residences and offices in the city – is the most prominent of 86 defendants (including her husband and niece) found guilty of syphoning $44 billion from the bank over more than a decade via “a web of thousands of shell companies”.
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
By comparison, Malaysia’s long-running 1MDB state fund scandal, often described as one of the world’s biggest financial crimes, involved the looting of just $4.5 billion. Even crypto scammer Sam Bankman-Fried’s $8 billion fraud is “dwarfed by Lan’s case”. Her arrest in October 2022 “sparked a week-long run” on the Saigon Commercial Bank – the fifth largest in the Communist-run country. Tens of thousands lost their savings.
Vietnam has been plagued by corruption for decades, but the “scale of the case is shocking”, Linh Nguyen, of consultancy Control Risks, told the Financial Times. “It has damaged the sentiment of not only foreign investors” but of “the business community in general”. The involvement of several central bankers and state officials hasn’t helped.
The government’s ensuing corruption crackdown, known as the “blazing furnace”, has been just as damaging – leading to “a stark slowdown in government activity”, including approvals for projects and licences, at a pivotal time for Vietnam. The country had hopes of emerging as a global manufacturing hub as Western companies shift factories away from China.
Truong My Lan's road to riches
Lan herself comes from humble beginnings. Born into a Sino-Vietnamese family in Ho Chi Minh City, she started out selling cosmetics on a market stall alongside her mother, before taking advantage of the “Doi Moi” economic reforms of the 1980s to get into property, says the London Evening Standard. A talented businesswoman with fingers in several pies, her wealth “skyrocketed” after she married Hong Kong investor Eric Chu in 1992 and founded Van Thinh Phat, says CNN. By 2011, she was “a powerful yet low-profile business figure in Ho Chi Minh”. That changed when Lan became involved in the merger of three struggling banks to form the Saigon Commercial Bank, later assuming effective control via illegal proxies. “She was well on her way to riches, high status and, eventually, infamy.”
Lan’s manipulation of the banking system continued for a decade before the scam was uncovered when Vietnam’s property bubble burst and the bad loans started stacking up. When state auditors discovered the fraud, she attempted to bribe them into silence, says the FT. “Because of this case, the dreams, hopes and physical strength of myself and dozens of people here have been affected. That was the most terrible experience for me,” she said during the appeal hearing. But attempts to portray herself as the victim of a witch hunt have fallen on deaf ears. At best, she now faces the rest of her life behind bars.
This article was first published in MoneyWeek's magazine. Enjoy exclusive early access to news, opinion and analysis from our team of financial experts with a MoneyWeek subscription.
Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
Jane writes profiles for MoneyWeek and is city editor of The Week. A former British Society of Magazine Editors editor of the year, she cut her teeth in journalism editing The Daily Telegraph’s Letters page and writing gossip for the London Evening Standard – while contributing to a kaleidoscopic range of business magazines including Personnel Today, Edge, Microscope, Computing, PC Business World, and Business & Finance.
She has edited corporate publications for accountants BDO, business psychologists YSC Consulting, and the law firm Stephenson Harwood – also enjoying a stint as a researcher for the due diligence department of a global risk advisory firm.
Her sole book to date, Stay or Go? (2016), rehearsed the arguments on both sides of the EU referendum.
She lives in north London, has a degree in modern history from Trinity College, Oxford, and is currently learning to play the drums.
-
Is it time to ride the recovery in emerging markets?
Interview What's the outlook for emerging markets? Gustavo Medeiros, head of research at Ashmore Group, gives his analysis and reviews progress in developing economies
-
Could the Enterprise Investment Scheme cut your tax bill?
The Enterprise Investment Scheme is tax-efficient and potentially lucrative. Taking a chance on the scheme could trim your family’s IHT bill, says David Prosser
-
'Ride the recovery in emerging markets': Gustavo Medeiros of Ashmore Group tells MoneyWeek
Interview What's the outlook for emerging markets? Gustavo Medeiros, head of research at Ashmore Group, gives his analysis and reviews progress in developing economies
-
Giorgio Armani: the irreplaceable Il Signore
Giorgio Armani started his fashion business in 1975 and built it into the world’s largest private luxury brand. Where can it go without him?
-
The City's big bet on green finance fails to pay out
Opinion Insurers and banks are backing away from “green finance”, and there is not much sign of the green boom we were promised. That’s a problem for the City
-
Why is English football thriving – and can it last?
What has gone so right for English football? The national team has found its feet; the Premier League is swimming in money and profits are soaring
-
Should you invest in Pakistan – the Vietnam of South Asia?
Opinion If Pakistan is now serious about reform, it’s time for investors to buy, says Maryam Cockar
-
'Why you must own gold and Bitcoin'
Opinion The world is dedollarising, and gold and Bitcoin are the only alternatives. Buy now, says Dominic Frisby
-
'Britain is on the road to nowhere under Labour'
Opinion Britain's economy will shake off its torpor and grow robustly, but not under Keir Starmer's leadership, says Max King
-
What are wealth taxes and would they work in Britain?
The Treasury is short of cash and mulling over how it can get its hands on more money to plug the gap. Could wealth taxes do the trick?