Ms. Truong My Lan's younger brother "begged" the court to get back 10 billion for medical treatment.

On the afternoon of September 27, the trial of Ms. Truong My Lan - Chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group and related units continued to question those with related rights and obligations.

At the trial, the panel of judges invited Mr. Truong Me (defendant Lan's younger brother, also defendant Ngo Thanh Nha's husband - former General Director of Van Thinh Phat Group, Chairman of the Board of Directors of An Dong Company) to appear for questioning. However, Mr. Me's legal representative said that Mr. Me was undergoing medical treatment abroad and could not appear in response to the court's summons. Mr. Me's representative also affirmed that Mr. Me did not own or manage any activities related to the Van Thinh Phat ecosystem.

According to Mr. Me’s representative, during the investigation, the authorities seized a savings book worth 10 billion VND belonging to Mr. Me. Mr. Me’s representative said that this was personal property, unrelated to the case and requested the panel of judges to consider lifting the seizure.

Mr. Me’s representative said that the savings book was confiscated when the authorities prosecuted the defendant Ngo Thanh Nha (Mr. Me’s wife). However, when asked about the origin of this money, the representative said he was not sure and asked to answer later.

Previously, during the questioning, defendant Ngo Thanh Nha also requested the court to return the savings book to Mr. Me to have funds to continue medical treatment, because this was the amount of money that the defendant and her husband had saved for many years.

In this case, some people were identified as having assisted Truong My Lan but have passed away. During the investigation, the authorities applied a number of preventive measures related to assets. In court, relatives of these people said that the assets that were frozen and seized were formed during the marriage, were family assets and asked the court to let them get them back.

Regarding the brokerage and bond trading activities, at the trial, the representative of SCB Bank said that this unit performed according to the contract signed with Tan Viet Securities Company, and SCB was allowed to perform these activities. SCB only introduced when customers had a need to invest in bonds and did not solicit customers.

At court, the representative of this bank submitted 6 petitions asking the court to consider reducing the sentence for 6 defendants who have worked for many years at the bank, including: Vo Tan Hoang Van (former General Director of SCB Bank), Truong Khanh Hoang (former Acting General Director of SCB), Bui Anh Dung (former Chairman of the Board of Directors of SCB), Tran Thi My Dung (Deputy General Director of SCB Bank), Tran Thi Thuy Ai (former cash controller and warehouse keeper of SCB Bank Saigon Branch) and Thai Thi Thanh Thao (Head of Transaction Department of SCB Bank Saigon Branch).

Also during the trial, the panel questioned defendant Truong My Lan (Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Van Thinh Phat) and her accomplices regarding objects, evidence, and documents seized during the investigation. Ms. Lan said that during the investigation, the authorities seized many personal belongings such as handbags, phones, and shoes.

"When I was arrested, two albino Hermès bags were confiscated. One I bought in Italy and the other was given to me by a Malaysian tycoon. These bags are not worth much, I want to leave them to my children and grandchildren as souvenirs, so I ask the jury to consider allowing me to get these two bags back," defendant Lan stated.

The albino Hermès bag that Ms. Truong My Lan mentioned has the full name of Hermès Himalayan Crocodile Birkin, known as one of the most expensive and hard-to-find handbags in the world. This bag is also at the top of the wish list of handbag collectors around the world.

The Himalaya Birkin bag was first sold in 2014 for $180,000, equivalent to more than 4.4 billion VND, considered the most expensive bag in the world. Since then, they have always been auctioned for record amounts.

At the end of the session, the panel of judges requested the representative of Van Thinh Phat, the representative of Truong My Lan's two daughters; and a series of individuals and legal entities with related rights and obligations to be present in court at the trial on September 30 to clarify a number of issues.

Ms. Truong My Lan compensated more than 30,092 billion VND, where did the money come from? Minh Lợi17:10:13 31/03/2025According to the first instance verdict, in addition to criminal liability, Ms. Truong My Lan is obliged to compensate the entire amount of more than 30,092 billion VND to the victims and related people. So where will Ms. Truong My Lan get the money?