Property tycoon Truong My Lan seen at the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City in September 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran
An unidentified American “friend” of property tycoon Truong My Lan wants to lend money to help her compensate victims of her company’s bond fraud.
A lawyer representing four accomplices of Lan said Tuesday that the individual had offered her the US$250 million needed to pay off a debt, and another $130 million to compensate the victims.
The first amount would be used to redeem the mortgage on a building in Hanoi in which Lan is one of three main shareholders, the lawyer told the People’s Court of HCMC.
The building is mortgaged to a foreign-owned bank. Lan said: “That would be great. I accept the offer.”
The friend also wants to loan more money to Lan if she agrees to let them manage a 26-hectare property project in HCMC that she owns, and the two sides could negotiate its possible sale later, the lawyer said.
The person, “a friend of Lan,” would like to know how much the compensation payment would be, she said.
Lan said: “I do not know how much. I am not asking for a lot. As long as this person is sincere and has money, I am willing to receive his or her help in times of difficulty.”
Lan has offered up nearly 300 assets, including a 11,000-square-meter “mega project” in downtown HCMC, to compensate the victims of the bond fraud.
She is being tried for masterminding a fraudulent bond issuance scheme in 2018 that resulted in over 35,800 investors losing VND30 trillion ($1.2 billion).
She has denied all culpability, but admitted to allowing the Saigon Commercial Bank management to issue the bonds through four of her companies.
Earlier this year Lan was sentenced to death for embezzling money from the SCB between 2012 and 2022.
She and her accomplices owe VND677 trillion to the bank they had obtained through 1,300 different loans.
The court also found her guilty of bribery and violating banking regulations. She has appealed the death sentence.
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