How One Woman Stole $44 Billion From Vietnam

Summary

In a groundbreaking case, Vietnamese property tycoon Trinh Van Lan was sentenced to death for a staggering bank fraud, amounting to 3% of Vietnam's GDP. The scheme involved embezzlement, bribery, and the use of shell companies to channel $44 billion in loans to her own enterprises. Despite being a high-profile figure, her corruption went unchecked for years, highlighting the flaws in the financial system. The verdict, however, sent a strong message amid Vietnam's anti-corruption campaign, raising questions about the fairness and severity of punishment for financial crimes.

Takeaways

• 🏦 The video discusses a major bank fraud case in Vietnam involving a woman named Trinh My Lan, who was sentenced to death for her crimes.
• 💰 Trinh My Lan's fraud amounted to around 3% of Vietnam's GDP, making it one of the greatest bank frauds in history.
• 👩‍💼 She was found guilty of embezzlement, bribing state officials, and violating bank lending regulations, using her hidden ownership of the Saigon Commercial Bank to channel $44 billion in loans to her own companies.
• 📈 Trinh My Lan's early life in the Benthan market taught her how to hustle, which she later applied in the property market, founding the Phu Thinh Phat group.
• 💑 Her marriage to an investor from Hong Kong, Eric Trueu Nhan, led to the creation of an empire that included restaurants, hotels, and properties.
• 🔪 Vietnamese law caps an individual's ownership in a bank at 5%, but Trinh My Lan managed to own 90% of the Saigon Commercial Bank through a network of shell companies.
• 🤫 Her fraudulent activities were an open secret, yet she managed to pass audits and bribe officials to maintain her operations.
• 🇻🇳 The 'Blazing Furnace' anti-corruption campaign in Vietnam led to a crackdown on both public and private sector corruption, eventually exposing Trinh My Lan's fraudulent activities.
• 🚨 The arrest and subsequent trial of Trinh My Lan were highly publicized, causing a significant impact on the Vietnamese economy and society.
• 💔 The fallout from her arrest included the identification of around 42,000 victims, a housing market crash, and a government intervention to prevent a financial meltdown.
• ⚖️ Trinh My Lan's death sentence for financial crimes is unusual in Vietnam, suggesting that her case was used as a political example to demonstrate the government's commitment to fighting corruption.

Q & A

What was the major crime committed by Trinh Van Lan in Vietnam?

Trinh Van Lan was found guilty of embezzlement, bribing state officials, and violating bank lending regulations. She used her hidden ownership of the Saigon Commercial Bank to channel $44 billion of loans to her own companies, which amounted to around 3% of Vietnam's entire GDP.

How did Trinh Van Lan manage to evade detection for over a decade?

Trinh Van Lan set up thousands of shell companies and used fake contracts to move money out of the country. She also bribed government officials to keep them quiet and stacked the bank with her own people to approve loans to her network of shell companies.

What was the impact of Trinh Van Lan's arrest on the Vietnamese financial sector?

Her arrest led to the identification of around 42,000 victims, including bondholders and ordinary people who had trusted SCB with their life savings. The Vietnamese Central Bank had to step in to prevent a financial meltdown by pumping $24 billion into SCB to avoid a bank run.

What was the 'Blazing Furnace' campaign, and how did it relate to Trinh Van Lan's case?

The 'Blazing Furnace' campaign was an anti-corruption initiative led by one of Vietnam's most powerful politicians, Nguyen Phu Trong. It aimed to create an image of a clean government and took corruption in the private sector more seriously, which eventually led to increased scrutiny and the eventual downfall of Trinh Van Lan.

Why was Trinh Van Lan sentenced to death despite no prior convictions?

The death sentence was unusual for a financial crime, especially for someone with no prior convictions. It is speculated that the Vietnamese government used her case to make an example out of her to show the world that they were taking corruption seriously.

How did Trinh Van Lan's fraudulent activities affect foreign investment in Vietnam?

Some analysts believe that her arrest made foreign investment skittish at a time when Vietnam was poised to become the next global manufacturing hub. However, the government also turned to foreign investors to help stabilize the situation after her arrest.

What was the role of Trinh Van Lan's family members in her fraudulent scheme?

Trinh Van Lan's husband, niece, and other family members were involved in her scheme. They were part of her network of shell companies and were involved in the fraudulent activities, leading to charges against them as well.

What was the significance of the bribe given to the Chief Inspector of Vietnam State Bank?

The Chief Inspector of Vietnam State Bank, Do Ngoc Nam, accepted a $5 million bribe from Trinh Van Lan, which was the largest bribe ever recorded in Vietnam. This bribe was meant to ensure that her fraudulent activities would not be investigated.

How did Trinh Van Lan's fraudulent activities affect the real estate market in Vietnam?

Her fraudulent activities led to a significant downturn in the real estate market. Property firms shut down in record numbers, and authorities seized over a thousand of Trinh Van Lan's properties, leaving highrises across Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City empty.

What was the public reaction to Trinh Van Lan's death sentence?

The death penalty verdict was shocking to the nation, as capital punishment in Vietnam is relatively common but rarely applied in cases of financial crimes. The public was left to question whether this was too harsh of a punishment and what constitutes a fair consequence for such a crime.

Outlines

00:00

🏦 The Ultimate Punishment for White Collar Crime

This paragraph introduces the unusual case of Trinh Van Lan, a Vietnamese property developer sentenced to death for a massive bank fraud. The fraud amounted to 3% of Vietnam's GDP, and she was found guilty of embezzlement, bribery, and bank lending regulation violations. The scheme involved channeling $44 billion in loans to her own companies through her hidden ownership of the Saigon Commercial Bank. The video sets the stage for exploring one of the biggest fraud cases in history, emphasizing the scale of the crime and the unusual severity of the punishment.

05:00

📈 The Rise and Fall of a Corporate Titan

The second paragraph delves into Trinh Van Lan's background and the rise of her empire. Born in a modest family, she learned to hustle early on and later ventured into the property market, founding the Phu Thinh Phat Group. Her wealth expanded dramatically after marrying an investor and building a business empire across Vietnam and Hong Kong. Despite her success, greed led her to engage in fraudulent activities, starting around 2010, which involved merging banks and siphoning funds through a network of shell companies and bribing government officials to maintain her power.

10:00

💸 Unraveling the Largest Bank Fraud in Vietnamese History

This paragraph examines the mechanics of Trinh Van Lan's fraudulent activities, which included the use of shell companies, bribing officials, and manipulating audits. It details how she managed to own 90% of the bank despite legal caps on individual ownership. The paragraph also discusses the audacity of her actions, such as instructing her driver to withdraw and store massive amounts of money in her basement. The narrative highlights the widespread corruption that allowed her scheme to persist for years, affecting the nation's financial stability and reputation.

15:03

🛑 The Downfall of a Billionaire and the Impact on Vietnam's Economy

The final paragraph discusses the aftermath of Trinh Van Lan's arrest and the government's response to the financial crisis it triggered. It describes the measures taken by the Vietnamese authorities, such as the 'Blazing Furnace' anti-corruption campaign and the involvement of foreign investors to stabilize the situation. The paragraph also touches on the broader implications of the case, including the impact on foreign investment and the potential political motivations behind the severe punishment of Lan. It concludes with a reflection on the consequences of unchecked greed and corruption, inviting viewers to consider the fairness of her punishment.

Keywords

💡Bank Fraud

Bank fraud refers to the act of dishonestly obtaining money, property, or services from a financial institution through deception or other fraudulent means. In the video, the theme of bank fraud is central, as it discusses the case of Trịnh Văn Thành, who was involved in a massive financial scandal that defrauded a bank of billions of dollars, amounting to around 3% of Vietnam's GDP.

💡Embezzlement

Embezzlement is the act of illegally appropriating funds entrusted to one's care for personal use. Trịnh Văn Thanh was found guilty of embezzlement, as she used her hidden ownership of the Saigon Commercial Bank to channel billions in loans to her own companies, which is a key element in the video's narrative of the fraud case.

💡Bribery

Bribery is the act of offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting something of value to influence the actions of an official in the discharge of their duties. The video mentions that Trịnh Văn Thanh bribed state officials to keep her fraudulent activities quiet, which is a significant aspect of how she was able to perpetrate her scheme for an extended period.

💡State Officials

State officials are individuals who hold a position of authority within a government. In the context of the video, state officials are mentioned as being bribed by Trịnh Văn Thanh to facilitate her fraudulent activities, highlighting the corruption within the state apparatus that allowed the fraud to continue.

💡Shell Companies

Shell companies are corporations that have no active business operations but are used for various purposes such as tax evasion, money laundering, or hiding assets. The video describes how Trịnh Văn Thanh set up thousands of shell companies to disguise her ownership of bank shares and to channel funds fraudulently.

💡Capital Punishment

Capital punishment refers to the legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime. The video discusses the controversial aspect of Trịnh Văn Thanh being sentenced to death for her financial crimes, which is an extreme and rare punishment in cases of financial fraud.

💡Anti-Corruption Campaign

An anti-corruption campaign is a series of actions and initiatives aimed at reducing corruption within a society or organization. The video mentions the 'Blazing Furnace' campaign in Vietnam, which targeted corruption and ultimately led to the exposure and punishment of Trịnh Văn Thanh.

💡Property Tycoon

A property tycoon is a person who has become very successful and wealthy through property development or investment. Trịnh Văn Thanh is referred to as a property tycoon in the video, indicating her significant wealth and influence in the real estate market prior to her involvement in the fraud case.

💡Financial Meltdown

A financial meltdown refers to a rapid and severe decline in the value of assets or the financial markets. The video describes the potential financial meltdown that could have occurred if Vietnam Central Bank had not intervened with special loans to prevent a bank run following Trịnh Văn Thanh's arrest.

💡Regulatory Audit

A regulatory audit is an examination and verification of a company's financial statements and internal controls conducted by an authorized regulatory body. The video mentions that Trịnh Văn Thanh's fraudulent activities passed audits from well-known firms, which raises questions about the effectiveness of regulatory oversight.

💡Economic Impact

Economic impact refers to the effects that an event, policy, or activity has on an economy, including changes in employment, income, and the overall standard of living. The video discusses the significant economic impact of Trịnh Văn Thanh's fraud, which affected the housing market, property firms, and the trust of the Vietnamese people in their financial institutions.

Highlights

A Vietnamese property developer, Trinh Van Lan, was sentenced to death for a bank fraud amounting to 3% of Vietnam's GDP.

Trinh Van Lan was found guilty of embezzlement, bribing state officials, and violating bank lending regulations.

Lan used her hidden ownership of the Saigon Commercial Bank to channel $44 billion of loans to her own companies.

The fraud scheme involved setting up thousands of shell companies and bribing government officials to maintain control.

Vietnamese law limits individual bank ownership to 5%, yet Lan managed to own 90% of the bank.

93% of the approved loans at SCB went directly into Trinh Van Lan's pocket.

Lan's fraudulent activities were an open secret, yet she passed audits from big names like Deloitte and KPMG.

Vietnam's anti-corruption campaign, 'Blazing Furnace', led by Nguyen Phu Trong, targeted corruption within the Communist Party.

The campaign aimed to make Vietnam a cleaner and safer place for foreign business investment.

Trinh Van Lan's arrest in October 2022 was followed by a sentence of death less than 2 years later.

The death penalty for financial crimes is rare in Vietnam, especially for first-time offenders.

The arrest and trial of Trinh Van Lan brought to light around 42,000 victims and caused a significant impact on Vietnam's economy.

Vietnam Central Bank had to intervene with $24 billion to prevent a financial meltdown following Lan's arrest.

Trinh Van Lan's defense claimed lack of experience and understanding of legal matters led to her involvement in the fraud.

The case raises questions about the severity of punishment for financial crimes and the role of politics in justice.

Some speculate that the death sentence could be a political move to deter corruption and reassure the public.

The video concludes by questioning whether the death penalty is a fair consequence for the scale of the fraud committed.

Transcripts

this video is brought to you by ground

news welcome to another episode of Cold

Fusion think of all the major Bank

frauds that you've heard of from JP

Morgan rigging precious metals markets

to Wells Fargo making up fake consumer

accounts and scamming customers to all

of the banks involved in The Reckless

greed of 2008 a disaster that damaged

the global economy no justice is ever

served nobody goes to jail and no one in

power seems to care but what if the

opposite happened what if white col

criminals were served the ultimate

punishment this is the story of a woman

who's just been sentenced to death in

Vietnam trong Myan didn't murder anyone

she didn't traffic drugs she didn't

commit treason but what she did do was

commit a fraud so enormous that it

amounted to around 3% of the entire

country's GDP in the past few minutes a

court in Vietnam has sentenced a wealthy

proper developer to death for defrauding

a bank of billions of dollars

67-year-old trong Milan was found guilty

of embezzlement bribing State officials

and violating Bank lending regulations

after she used her hidden ownership of

the Saigon Commercial Bank to channel

$44 billion of loans to her own

companies it's been described as one of

the greatest Brank frauds in history and

how for over a decade did this woman

allegedly steal so much money without

anyone taking her down get ready for a

wild ride as we dive into one of the

biggest fraud cases in history this is

bigger than teros or Sam bankman freed

and it's a scandal that stained Asia's

fastest growing

economy you are watching cold fusion

TV Trang Milan was born in 1956 in

Saigon South Vietnam to a modest but

entrepreneurial family scared her story

really begins at the benthan market an

iconic and bustling Hub known for its

intense bargaining culture Lan learned

how to hustle from an early age as a

teenager she and her mother became a

familiar site at the market selling

Cosmetics

together detectives always look to a

corporate's early life for clues about

why they did what they later did but

with Lan her early life doesn't give

much away there were no telltale signs

that we know of and nothing that would

point to the criminal mastermind that

she'd eventually become Lan's

negotiating skills must have really been

something because by the mid 1990s she

ventured into the property market and

founded F Thin fat group around this

time Vietnam was undergoing a

transformation reforms had opened the

doors for private businesses and

families to compete but land was

officially under State control so

getting access to it would require some

serious charm in Your Arsenal to sway

State

officials trong my land's rise was as

dramatic as her fault in 1992 she met

Eric trueu napne an investor from Hong

Kong they got married had two daughters

and built an Empire of restaurants

hotels and properties across Vietnam and

Hong Kong and her wealth exploded if we

check out our typical profile of a white

collar criminal this all fits the bill

with seemingly no reason to break the

law so that's why it's always so

infuriating when they do they get greedy

and as you'll see they just want more

and more and

more around 2010 is when things start to

go dodgy Mrs Lan was a major player in

Vietnam's Financial scene and her

company was one of Vietnam's richest

real estate firms she was powerful and

had good standing with the community

because of this and presumably her

connections she was entrusted with

arranging the merger of three struggling

Banks into the Saigon Commercial Bank

which will call SCB in this video the

plan was approved by Vietnam Central

Bank big mistake from 2012 she began to

siphon funds she gave loans to herself

and her friends and paid bribes to

government officials to keep them quiet

and from here her power would remain

unchecked for now so aren't there

supposed to be laws to stop this from

happening well there were Vietnamese law

clearly caps an individual's ownership

in a bank at 5% but somehow over the

years she ended up owning 90% of the

bank so how on Earth did she manage to

own 90% step one in Lan's multi-billion

Dollar Bank fraud scheme set up

thousands of shell companies she put the

ownership of these companies and Bank

shares in other people's name so a

cursory glance from the outside would

look like a healthy and diverse range of

leaders and CEOs controlling the bank's

subsidiaries and partners but in reality

it was just her

whoops and then it became an inside job

Lan stacked the deck with her own people

she hired trusted Associates as managers

at SCB and instructed them to approve

loans to her network of shell companies

around the world these companies often

had no operations or employees she would

use fake contracts to move money out of

the country

as the scheme grew she needed more

people to be in charge of her ever

growing list of fake companies her

husband her niece and other family

members got involved 93% of the approved

loans at SCB went straight into Trung my

land's pocket with this setup Lan now

had billions of dollars in customer

deposits to play with imagine finding

out that each time you deposit money 93

cents out of every dollar disappears

into one woman's personal piggy bank to

do whatever they please

in the decade leading up to arrest Lan

lent herself $44 billion in illegal

loans so how on Earth does no one notice

that much money missing well it turns

out that people did Lan was a household

name in Vietnam her position at Saigon

Commercial Bank held her in great esteem

but her never-ending access to liquid

Capital meant that it was pretty obvious

that she was up to something her Shady

dealings were an Open Secret yet she

passed audits from Big names like de

white and KPMG with flying

colors even if a regulator became

suspicious and decided to dig deeper Lan

would hand out bribes like candy take

the Chief Inspector of Vietnam State

Bank do Nan who accepted a $5 million

bribe this was the largest bribe ever

recorded in Vietnam and it was delivered

in Styrofoam boxes to put this bribe

into context top government officials in

Vietnam ear around $1,000 per month a $5

million bribe could set the inspector

and her family up for life but instead

life in jail is all she received it gets

even crazier over the course of 3 years

Lan instructed her driver to withdraw

108 trillion Vietnamese Dong from the

bank and store it in her basement this

was the equivalent of $4 billion us even

if he withdrew all of that cash in

Vietnam's largest bank note denomination

it would weigh 2 tons moving this kind

of money without anyone noticing seems

unlikely but that's the thing in a

country when so many people are

struggling to get by a bribe to look the

other way can be life-changing that's

why so many people accepted L's hush

money and why she could get away with it

for so long however her luck was about

to run out and her Empire was about to

collapse Vietnamese authorities were

undertaking a scorched Earth policy on

corruption

[Music]

the thing about Vietnam is that it's a

one- party state so there's not always

an incentive or competition to keep

those in power honest however since 2013

one of Vietnam's most powerful

politicians n Fu Chong had been leading

an anti-corruption campaign called

blazing furnace trong realized that

corruption within the Communist party

was actually a threat to their power and

in order to regain the trust of the

Vietnamese people they needed to create

an image of a clean government for years

the Blazing furnace campaign focused on

public sector corruption in Vietnam talk

of cracking down on corruption wasn't

new and probably fell on a lot of deaf

ears including those of Mrs Lan so while

Lan was busy bribing and siphoning cash

the Communist Party began to take

corruption in the private sector more

seriously as the US China trade War

raged on companies scrambled to find new

manufacturing locations the Communist

Party knew this and through the Blazing

furnace campaign they promised to make

Vietnam a cleaner and safer place to do

business foreign business investment

poured in and companies like Samsung LG

and apple pumped billions into high-tech

manufacturing the anti-corruption drive

was paying off and Vietnam became

Apple's biggest manufacturing Hub

outside of China but there was a flip

side to this anyone found to be corrupt

was going to be in hot water and the

more corrupt you were the hotter the

water and trong my landan was the most

corrupt of all

in October of 2022 Lan was arrested and

less than 2 years later she was

sentenced to death it sounds wild I know

but the reason for this punishment is

both surprising and not so surprising

hang tight I'll explain in a bit but for

now the initial Fallout from Lan's

arrest was huge police identified around

42,000 victims Bond holders and ordinary

people who trusted SCB with their life

savings the court trial was televised

and was a spectacle like the country had

never seen the 104 boxes of evidence

presented in the trial weighed 6 tons

land's Empire was so massive that it

brought a once strong housing market to

its knees property firms shut down in

record numbers and authorities seized

over a thousand of lands properties

highrises across Hanoi and hoim Min City

now sit

empty post arrest even Vietnam Central

Bank had to step in to prevent a

financial meltdown they pumped $24

billion in quote special loans into SCB

to avoid a bankr run the government also

turned to foreign investors to help

stabilize the situation quote without

lending SCB will collapse if the lending

continues the national treasury will

gradually dry up end quote ironically

some analysts think that the arrest

backfired and made foreign investment

skittish right at the time when Vietnam

was poised to be the next Global

manufacturing hub

in April of 2024 Trang Myan was

sentenced to death for embezzling $ 12.5

billion and that's just the amount the

authorities could prove to put that into

perspective that's like someone in the

United States stealing $

7632

billion land's arrest shocked the nation

but the death penalty verdict even more

so capital punishment in Vietnam is

relatively common but it's rarely

applied in cases of financial crimes

especially with someone with no prior

convictions so what's the story behind

the move well there's a lot of

perspectives for One Time Magazine

published Vietnam sought to make an

example out of Lan end quot and this

makes sense considering the verdict the

defendants actions eroded people's trust

in the leadership of the Communist party

and state end qu but the question is was

L sentencing more about politics than

the justice for a victims potentially

some experts think that the Communist

party used her as a human sacrifice just

to show the world that they were taking

corruption seriously if Lan had just

received a live sentence the story

probably wouldn't have made Global

headlines and authorities wouldn't be

able to push their narrative others

speculate that the whole thing could

just be a ruse a method to terrify Lan

into giving up more of her stolen assets

and accompli they think that if she

settles the outstanding debts of $28

billion maybe she'll be

spared in the end land pled not guilty

and blamed her subordinates she admitted

that she was involved in the

restructuring of the bank but did not

misappropriate its funds she also told

the court that by her getting into the

banking industry without sufficient

experience and quote a lack of

understanding of legal matters got her

into the

situation the courts didn't buy it and

all in all 855 people were charged

including Lan's husband who was

sentenced to 9 years in prison and Lan's

niece who was sentenced to 17 years two

former Executives of the SCB Bank have

fled the country and are still on the

run before we continue let's hear a

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news/ coldfusion to get started thank

you now back to the

video to Vietnam where a property Tycoon

has been sentenced to death in the

country's biggest ever financial fraud

case 10% of a country's GDP and nobody

noticed but you're saying she bribed

people but she must have bribed an awful

lot of people for that to go either

unnoticed or unchallenged I'm sure the

officials knew about that but uh they

were just they they just pretended to

look the other way because uh her main

Patron used to be a very powerful man he

was the party chief of hoim City

and a member of the powerful poit Bureau

of the Communist party so he was one of

the top 15 or so uh leaders of the

country so he was so powerful and he was

uh ruling hoim Min City like his own fif

the 2008 financial crisis showed us just

how much we rely on banks to be run

fairly it revealed the devastating

impact of unchecked greed on society but

this case was different it made it very

clear that even the very wealthy aren't

immune from consequences the bottom line

here is this trong Milan had every

opportunity to stop she was already

wealthy before the scheme but she didn't

stop at $100 million $1 billion or even

10 billion it seemed like no amount of

money was ever enough and she paid the

ultimate price but I'll leave the

question up to you do you think that

this is too harsh of a punishment what

counts as a fair consequence for

stealing 3% of a country's GDP in fraud

that's something that we all have

different takes on

and that is the story of how one lady

scammed $44

billion so thanks for watching my name

is deogo and if you're new here feel

free to subscribe to Cold Fusion okay so

I'll see you again soon for the next

episode cheers guys have a good one

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

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