Far East: Vietnam’s Death Row Property Tycoon Vows To Transform Her Estates Into A 'Golden Goose
Truong My Lan on her way to one of her hearing. via ap.
The new chapter in Vietnam’s massive anti-corruption initiative has taken place in the form of an offer from the guilty. From prison, Truong My Lan, the convicted property tycoon in Vietnam who was sentenced to death row last year for embezzlement, has proposed an offer in hopes of her release.
In the ruling from Vietnam’s appeal court, it was mentioned that her sentence shall be reduced if, and only if, she can pay back three-quarters of the amount she had embezzled. She pledged to turn her vast property holdings into a 'golden goose' in a bid to avoid the death penalty.
It may not be so straightforward; many doubt whether this move will persuade the government, especially given its recent anti-corruption drive. And even if the court accepts her offer, there's skepticism over whether her valuation is sufficient to cover the owed amount.
The Convicted Profile
Truong My lan before her arrest.
Truong My Lan was born in 1956 in Ho Chi Minh City, then Saigon. She spent her childhood years helping out her mother selling cosmetics in the city’s oldest market.
In 1992, as Vietnam commenced market-oriented initiatives, she and her family established the Van Thinh Phat company, which over the years became one of Vietnam’s richest real estate firms. The company itself would later be linked to some of Ho Chi Minh City’s most valuable downtown real estate and properties, from five-star hotels to 37-storey office buildings.
In that same year, Lan met her husband Eric Chu Nap-kee, a Hong Kong investor. They later married and have two daughters.
The roots of her case can be traced back to 2011 when Lan had personal involvement in the merger of the Saigon Joint Commercial Bank or SCB with two other lenders, as specified in the plan by Vietnam’s central bank. Lan is accused of using this merger to illegally control the bank for her own benefit between 2012 to 2022, as well as using thousands of cloned, “ghost companies” in Vietnam and overseas to transfer loans and funds to her allies. Those funds, amounting to $27 billion, have resulted in her charges of money laundering and funds embezzlement.
Her convictions don't end there. Lan was also accused of paying bribes to government officials. The list of officials she bribed included a former central bank official who has also been sentenced to life in prison for taking $5.2 million in bribes concerning this case.
In the court’s ruling last year, she was sentenced to death. The court cited that she “not only violated the property management rights of individuals but also pushed SCB into a state of special control, eroding people’s trust in the leadership of the Communist Party and state.”
Letter to Forgiveness
May 2025 marks the new chapter of this case’s development. From prison, Lan sent a letter to the state-controlled committee that handles her properties. In the letter, she stated that her assets have been significantly undervalued, which has affected her rights and potentially caused losses to the state.
Lan claimed that 726 of her assets (many located in prime areas of Vietnam’s largest cities) are valued at approximately $9.7 billion. However, she argued that recent land price guidelines issued by Ho Chi Minh City authorities could increase the value of her real estate holdings by three to five times. She later added that if her other 440 assets were valued, the state could potentially cash out $7.7 billion at the very least.
In her letter, Lan has also highlighted that with her “30-year experience in the real estate business and my thorough legal understanding … (she) could turn most of the assets into a golden goose so that the state can recover the costs.”
During her trial last year, Lan was subjected to pay some $9.3 billion, three-quarters of the total $12.5 billion damage in the fraud scheme. That number was later modified by the prosecutors to be estimated at around $11 billion. If Lan can pay that amount, she might be able to avoid being executed.
The Mogul’s Downfall
This letter came at a desperate time for Lan. While she won the appeal against being on the death row and a life sentence, she and her 33 co-defendants, including her husband and her niece, were still sentenced to years in prison.
Truong My Lan, center, attending one of her trial in Ho Chi Minh City. Thanh Tung, VnExpress via AP.
After her sentence last year, Lan has been actively working to pay back thousands of bondholders and millions of stolen debt. During the proceedings, Lan was frequently seen begging for mercy from the jury. “I hope the jury will acknowledge my efforts to consider and evaluate the overall case humanely,” Lan said in one of her hearings. According to her lawyer, Lan has also requested the authorities and the committee to allow her to be involved in the process of asset valuation as well as handling her assets by herself. She has promised the greatest financial returns for the state in return.
The downfall has become a global sensation, a once almighty and powerful real estate tycoon, now begging for forgiveness and mercy in light of the court. Her case has become one of Vietnam’s highest-profile cases during the time of the current Communist Party’s efforts of corruption crackdown.