Lan, the chairwoman of real estate developer Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, faces a trial in the economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City on accusations of leading a scam that caused damages of US$20 billion, or about 4.9 per cent of Vietnam's gross domestic product.
The trial, expected to run until the end of April, is part of a campaign against graft that the leader of the ruling Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, has pledged for years to stamp out, although with few tangible results.
Multiple Scams - Lan and her accomplices are accused of siphoning off more than 304 trillion dong (US$12.46 billion) from Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB), which she effectively controlled through dozens of proxies.
Prosecutors have also accused the group of causing damages to the to the tune of a further 193 trillion dong, more than 129 trillion dong of which consists of accumulated interest on the loans they took. That carried total financial damages in the case to 498 trillion dong (US$20 billion).
From early 2018 through October 2022, when the state bailed out SCB after a run on its deposits, Lan appropriated large sums by arranging unlawful loans to shell companies.
She is accused of bribing officials to ignore her activities, including paying an alleged US$5.2 million to a senior central bank inspector. Three independent auditing firms had committed violations in the SCB case.
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