Truong My Lan looted $44B from SCB in Vietnam's largest financial fraud

Truong My Lan, chairwoman of real estate developer Van Thinh Phat, built what is believed to be the largest financial fraud in Asian history. Between 2012 and 2022, she extracted over VND 1 quadrillion ($44 billion) from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) — equivalent to 93% of the bank's entire deposit base and roughly 10% of Vietnam's GDP.

The fraud began in 2011 when Lan used nominees to acquire majority stakes in three banks, which she merged into SCB in 2012. She owned 91.5% of the merged bank's shares, far exceeding the legal limit of 5% per individual. Family members held senior positions. SCB was effectively her personal treasury.

Over the next decade, Lan and her accomplices submitted 2,500 false loan applications through thousands of shell companies and hired nominees. She inflated the value of 1,166 collateral assets from VND 108 trillion (their true worth) to VND 487 trillion. When she could not repay earlier loans, she simply created new fake applications. Between February 2018 and her arrest in October 2022 alone, she appropriated VND 304 trillion ($12.53 billion).

SCB is seeking VND 760 trillion ($30.74 billion) in compensation. The bank has since closed 90% of its branches, reducing its network from hundreds to just 27 locations. Truong My Lan and 85 co-defendants face charges of embezzlement, bribery, and violating banking regulations. Five central bank officials were also arrested. The trial, which began in March 2024, has become a landmark case for Vietnamese financial regulation.