Ms. Truong My Lan was offered to be saved by a Malaysian billionaire, but did not accept the scenario.

On November 18, the appeal trial of defendant Truong My Lan (Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Van Thinh Phat Group) and 47 other defendants continued with the defense of the lawyer.

Regarding the determination of damages in the case, Ms. Lan said that this must be based on the liquidation and sale of all mortgaged assets, but SCB Bank has not sold any assets. The investigation conclusion and indictment determined that the total existing assets of SCB Bank are 714,000 billion VND. If we subtract the 673,000 billion VND that Ms. Lan is accused of being responsible for, there is no damage.

Lawyer Giang Hong Thanh (defending defendant Truong My Lan) said that the recoverable assets and defendant Lan's assets are all being seized. Defendant Lan wants to remedy the consequences but the assets have been seized, so it cannot be done. Therefore, the representative of the People's Procuracy said that the amount of money to remedy the consequences is not enough to reduce the death sentence, which is correct according to the provisions of the law but not suitable for the case.

Regarding the currently seized assets, Mr. Thanh said the estimated value is about 700,000 billion VND, and this amount is enough to overcome the consequences. However, with the land price list just issued by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the value of these assets has increased 3-5 times.

At the trial, the defense attorney for the defendant Truong My Lan stated that 658 assets of the defendant Lan are currently being seized, however, there are investors who have expressed their intention to invest capital to develop these assets, thereby creating a source of income for the defendant to remedy the consequences of the case. The attorney also emphasized that it is very difficult to ask the defendant to pay cash, while handling the assets will help recover part of the damage.

The lawyer also added that Truong My Lan's 6A project with an area of 26 hectares in Trung Son area, Binh Chanh district, Ho Chi Minh City has not been seized or mortgaged, and there is a Malaysian billionaire willing to invest in the project. After deducting expenses, this project is expected to generate up to 20,000 billion VND, enough money for defendant Lan to remedy the consequences.

Also related to remedying the consequences, the lawyer proposed that the court consider the detention conditions for the defendant Lan in case the defendant is sentenced to death.

Accordingly, if the defendant is sentenced to death, the execution of the sentence will encounter many difficulties and affect the ability to remedy the consequences. On the contrary, if the defendant is sentenced to life imprisonment, the ability to recover assets and remedy damages will be easier, and at the same time help the State recover damaged assets more quickly.

On November 15, in the indictment and proposed sentence, the People's Procuracy requested the panel of judges to reject the appeal to reduce the sentence of defendant Truong My Lan for two crimes: Embezzlement of property (death sentence) and Bribery (20 years in prison).

However, the People's Procuracy requested the court to accept part of the defendant's appeal, reducing the first instance sentence from 20 years in prison to 16 - 18 years in prison for the crime of Violating regulations on lending in the operations of credit institutions. Combining the penalties, defendant Truong My Lan must still be held responsible for the highest sentence of death.

Previously, when the Procuracy proposed to keep the death sentence, defendant Truong My Lan said with a trembling voice, "Today, if the Procuracy continues to keep the same sentence, the defendant will no longer have any mind, and will be mentally disturbed. I respectfully ask the court and the Procuracy to consider carefully for the defendant. The defendant only wishes to be able to pay the debt to the State Bank.

The defendant is a person who dares to do and take responsibility. Over the past 10 years, the defendant has contributed a lot to SCB Bank. The defendant does not know what to say, only asking the People's Court and the People's Procuracy to carefully review the data and once again allow it to be compared with SCB Bank" - Ms. Lan presented and continued to affirm that she did not embezzle money from this bank.

Truong My Lan gave up and said her last words, her husband was praised to the skies. Minh Lợi20:58:19 26/11/2024On November 26, the appeal hearing of the Van Thinh Phat Group case (phase 1) continued the debate with the response of Ms. Truong My Lan. After that, the defendants were given the final say before the panel of judges deliberated.