On April 11, 2024, a piece of news detonated Vietnam’s social network: Vietnam’s richest person, known as the real estate queen Zhang Meilan, was sentenced to death in the first instance.
The charge against him was embezzlement of property and he was required to pay 673.8 trillion VND in compensation.
It is equivalent to approximately 195.1 billion yuan.
I thought it was over, but only 6 months had passed.
Zhang Meilan was charged with three crimes: fraud, money laundering and illegal cross-border transportation of currency.
On top of the original death penalty, a sentence of life imprisonment was imposed.
To sentence a prisoner who has already been sentenced to death to life imprisonment just sounds outrageous.
But that’s not all. In recent days, the Vietnamese media has revealed another shocking news.
It said that Zhang Meilan was appealing and expressed her willingness to "pay money" to buy her life.
Vietnamese prosecutors also said that if she could produce assets worth US$11 billion (RMB 79.67 billion), she could be given leniency and avoid the death penalty by injection.
After this news was exposed, it immediately caused a huge sensation. Is it true that having money can really allow you to do whatever you want?
The Building and Collapse of the Van Thinh Phat Empire
To understand why Zhang Meilan was subjected to such a severe trial, we have to mention her history of making a fortune and the crimes she committed.
As the richest person in Vietnam, Zhang Meilan's business empire was not achieved overnight.
In the early 1990s, Vietnam launched the "Reform and Opening Up" policy, injecting vitality into economic development.
Truong My Lan seized this historical opportunity and co-founded Van Thinh Phat Company with her family.
Initially, the company started out as a trade company and accumulated its first pot of gold.
Zhang Meilan also turned her attention to the rapidly growing real estate sector.
With accurate market judgment and bold investment strategies, Van Thinh Phat has rapidly risen to become a leading company in Vietnam's real estate industry.
Zhang Meilan also became famous in the Vietnamese business community and was affectionately called the "Queen of Real Estate".
Her marriage to Hong Kong businessman Chu Li-kei also helped Wan Sheng Huat's expansion.
This cross-border marriage not only brought funds and connections to Van Thinh Phat, but also symbolized the integration of Vietnamese and international capital.
However, behind this business giant, there are many little-known secrets.
As the Van Thinh Phat Group continued to expand, Truong My Lan's ambitions also grew.
No longer satisfied with her success in real estate, she began to extend her reach into the financial industry.
This also laid the groundwork for future crises.
Relying on the family foundation and influence she had cultivated over the years, Zhang Meilan cleverly built a complex system consisting of numerous shell companies and purchasing agents.
This is to circumvent Vietnam's regulations on individual shareholdings.
Through these "ghost companies", she actually controlled a large number of shares of Saigon Commercial Bank and became the behind-the-scenes controller of the bank.
She placed her cronies as bank executives and, through a series of illegal operations, transferred huge amounts of money to shell companies under her control.
These loans were nominally used for investment projects, but in fact flowed into Zhang Meilan's personal account.
According to the indictment of the Supreme People's Procuratorate of Vietnam, from 2018 to 2022.
Zhang Meilan forged a total of 916 loan documents and defrauded Saigon Commercial Bank of up to 304 trillion Vietnamese dong (about 86.7 billion yuan).
And this does not include the interest on the hundreds of trillions of VND owed.
In order to cover up her mistakes, Zhang Meilan naturally had to bribe people in private.
But compared to the amount of money she obtained from fraud, it is just a drop in the bucket.
It is said that the proceeds of the fraud alone accounted for 3% of Vietnam's GDP, making it the largest financial fraud case in Asia.
But prosperity built on lies is ultimately short-lived.
The outbreak of the crisis and its social impact
Since the beginning of 2020, negative news about Saigon Commercial Bank has continued to emerge, and the market's confidence in it has gradually wavered.
In October 2022, after the news of Zhang Meilan's arrest broke, panic spread quickly, triggering a large-scale bank run.
Saigon Commercial Bank’s capital chain broke and it was on the verge of bankruptcy.
The troubled bank was taken over by Vietnam's central bank in an emergency move, launching the country's largest financial rescue program in history.
This naturally puts considerable pressure on Vietnam's economy.
They believe that the court's charges against Zhang Meilan lack sufficient evidence and the sentence is too harsh.
In addition, Zhang Meilan's defense lawyer also emphasized her previous charitable activities.
and his contributions to Vietnam's economic development, hoping to receive a light sentence.
So the relevant verdict was shelved.
The second trial was delayed until November this year.
But unlike the first trial, the focus of the second trial was on whether Zhang Meilan could reduce her sentence by returning part of her assets.
According to Vietnamese law, if a criminal sentenced to death for corruption can pay back three quarters of the embezzled money himself, the judge may consider giving him a lighter sentence.
In order to live a few more days, Zhang Meilan's lawyers also began to work hard and actively find solutions.
On the one hand, they objected to the amount of embezzlement alleged by the prosecution and tried to reduce the amount of assets that needed to be returned.
On the other hand, they are also actively seeking support from overseas funds, hoping to raise enough funds to meet the conditions stipulated by law.
A group of overseas investors reportedly agreed to lend Zhang Meilan $400 million to repay part of her debt.
Whether Zhang Meilan is dead or alive is likely to depend on whether this huge amount of funds can be paid.
But it is worth noting that even if the money is paid, it does not mean that Zhang Meilan can escape legal punishment.
Even if she managed to raise enough money to avoid the death penalty, she would probably still have to accept extremely severe punishment.
The final outcome of this case will also have a great impact on Vietnam's future development. #历史见证者打卡