FLASH
Shkruar nga Corriere della Sera
In Vietnam it is considered the trial of the century. Truong My Lan, 67, one of the country's richest women, was sentenced to death for gross and persistent fraud. At the head of a real estate empire, the Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, Truong, who has become an icon of the new communist Vietnam but with a capitalist spirit, was at the center of a process that shook the political foundations.
Beyond the death sentence - pending a possible appeal leading to a change to life in prison - what is impressive about the process, apart from the publicity guaranteed to the hearings in a regime that has always thrived on secrecy, are the numbers. Truong, over eleven years, was able to obtain loans from the Saigon Commercial Bank, amounting to 25 billion euros, effectively emptying its coffers without ever repaying an instalment. To get a sense of the magnitude of the figure: it's close to 3% of Vietnam's national GDP in 2022. So much so that the jury, in sentencing, stated that Truong's actions "erode people's confidence in the leadership of the (Communist) Party and of the State".
Truong had started from nothing. In the 1980s, she sold cosmetics at a stand with her mother. Little by little she had managed to buy land and property. In the late nineties she was the owner of hotels and restaurants. Thanks to a system of nominees and corporate boxes, the woman had effectively managed to control the Commercial Bank of Saigon with over 90% of the shares, while state rules do not allow a private entity to own more than 5% of an institution's loans financial. Therefore, it was she who appointed directors and managers. When someone presented an obstacle, the bribes of the millionaires were ready and the paperwork began again. At the end of a period of "inexplicable" impunity - everyone in Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon) knew about the billionaire's irregular practices. Along with the woman, 85 other accomplices were sentenced.
The evidence was placed in 104 boxes weighing 4 tons, 2770 people were called to testify while the investigations were entrusted to 10 prosecutors and 200 lawyers. Truly an unimaginable scene in Vietnam, which has decided, on the basis of reforms previously initiated by China, to emerge from underdevelopment by relying on market rules. On the other hand, in a country that has not yet transformed its economy, the sudden wealth of this or that entrepreneur are not isolated cases.
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