On Sat, 13 Apr 2024 02:52:59 -0000 (UTC)
Rick <privatemail@protonmail.com> wrote:

> >
> > <http://apnews.com>
> >Vietnam sentences real estate tycoon Truong My Lan to death in its
> >largest-ever fraud case
> >By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL
> >
> >April 11, 2024
> >
> >HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - Real estate tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced
> >Thursday to death by a court in Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam
> >in the country's largest financial fraud case ever, state media
> >Vietnam Net said.
> >
> >The 67-year-old chair of the real estate company Van Thinh Phat was
> >formally charged with fraud amounting to $12.5 billion - nearly 3%
> >of the country's 2022 GDP.
> >
> >Lan illegally controlled Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank between
> >2012 and 2022 and allowed 2,500 loans that resulted in losses of $27
> >billion to the bank, reported state media VnExpress. The court asked
> >her to compensate the bank $26.9 million.
> >
> >Despite mitigating circumstances - this was a first-time offense and
> >Lan participated in charity activities - the court attributed its
> >harsh sentence to the seriousness of the case, saying Lan was at the
> >helm of an orchestrated and sophisticated criminal enterprise that
> >had serious consequences with no possibility of the money being
> >recovered, VnExpress said.
> >
> >Her actions "not only violate the property management rights of
> >individuals and organizations but also push SCB (Saigon Joint Stock
> >Commercial Bank) into a state of special control; eroding people's
> >trust in the leadership of the Party and State," VnExpress quoted
> >the judgement as saying.
> >
> >Her niece, Truong Hue Van, the chief executive of Van Thinh Phat, was
> >sentenced to 17 years in prison for aiding her aunt.
> >
> >Lan and her family established the Van Thing Phat company in 1992
> >after Vietnam shed its state-run economy in favor of a more
> >market-oriented approach that was open to foreigners. She had
> >started out helping her mother, a Chinese businesswoman, to sell
> >cosmetics in Ho Chi Minh City's oldest market, according to state
> >media Tien Phong.
> >
> >Van Thinh Phat would grow to become one of Vietnam's richest real
> >estate firms, with projects including luxury residential buildings,
> >offices, hotels and shopping centers. This made her a key player in
> >the country's financial industry. She orchestrated the 2011 merger
> >of the beleaguered SCB bank with two other lenders in coordination
> >with Vietnam's central bank.
> >
> >The court found that she used this approach to tap SCB for cash. She
> >indirectly owned more than 90% of the bank - a charge she denied -
> >and approved thousands of loans to "ghost companies," according to
> >government documents. These loans then found their way back to her,
> >state media VNExpress reported, citing the court's findings.
> >
> >She then bribed officials to cover her tracks, it added.
> >
> >Former central bank official Do Thi Nhan was also sentenced Thursday
> >to life in prison for accepting $5.2 million in bribes.
> >
> >Lan's arrest in October 2022 was among the most high-profile in an
> >ongoing anti-corruption drive in Vietnam that has intensified since
> >2022. The so-called Blazing Furnace campaign has touched the highest
> >echelons of Vietnamese politics. Former President Vo Van Thuong
> >resigned in March after being implicated in the campaign.
> >
> >But Lan's trial shocked the nation. Analysts said the scale of the
> >scam raised questions about whether other banks or businesses had
> >similarly erred, dampening Vietnam's economic outlook and making
> >foreign investors jittery at a time when Vietnam has been trying to
> >position itself as the ideal home for businesses trying to pivot
> >their supply chains away from China.
> >
> >The real estate sector in Vietnam has been hit particularly hard. An
> >estimated 1,300 property firms withdrew from the market in 2023,
> >developers have been offering discounts and gold as gifts to attract
> >buyers, and despite rents for mixed-use properties known in
> >Southeast Asia as shop houses falling by a third in Ho Chi Minh
> >City, many in the city center are still empty, according to state
> >media.
> >
> >In November, Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong,
> >Vietnam's top politician, said that the anti-corruption fight would
> >"continue for the long term."
>
> This is what Trump deserves.

To destroy commies?

I guess so, you going to join in so we can make it happen faster then?