越南女性因涉嫌诈骗125亿美元而受审

A major property investor in Vietnam, Truong My Lan, is on trial over an accusation of fraud amounting to $12.5 billion. That is nearly 3 percent of the country's 2022 total economic production and the largest financial fraud case on record.
Lan is the 66-year-old head of the property company Van Thinh Phat. The company was one of Vietnam's biggest property companies and its projects include homes, offices, hotels, and business centers.
A government document says she reportedly used "thousands of ghost companies," paid bribes to government officials, and broke banking laws. She is accused of illegally controlling the Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank from 2012 to 2022 and using it to steal $12.5 billion, the document adds.
Another 85 people are being charged in the case, including a former State Bank of Vietnam official accused of accepting $5.2 million in bribes. Lan was arrested in October 2022 and could be executed if found guilty.
Officials brought Lan to a Ho Chi Minh City courtroom on Tuesday morning. Her husband Eric Chu Nap-kee, who works in property investment in Hong Kong, was also asked to appear in the case, VN Express reported.
Lan's arrest is part of an ongoing anti-corruption drive that brought thousands of officials and business leaders under investigation. In January 2023, then-President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and two top officials resigned for "political responsibility" of corruption dealings during the pandemic.
But observers said the anti-corruption drive has also worsened Vietnam's economic outlook and concerned foreign investors. It came at a time when the Southeast Asian nation has been trying to get businesses to move from China.
Linh Nguyen is the lead researcher for Washington D.C.-based Control Risks. She said it is the size of Lan's alleged fraud that has been surprising.
"More than 3 percent of the GDP is very large," Nguyen said. GDP, or gross domestic product, is how much a country produces in one year. She added that it also raised questions about whether other banks and businesses had "done the done the same (and) just haven't been discovered."
The anti-corruption drive has also resulted in Vietnam's government slowing down. A report from Singapore's ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute says that public officials are concerned about being investigated and are avoiding their responsibilities.
And Nguyen said that investors in banking, finance, and property investment are also taking a "wait and see" position at the moment.
Last year, local media reported that 1,300 property companies withdrew from the market and developers have been offering price reductions and gold to bring in buyers.
But Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam's top politician, said in November that the anti-corruption fight would "continue for the long term."
I'm Gregory Stachel.
Aniruddha Ghosal reported this story for The Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English.
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Words in This Story
ghost company – n. a company that exists on paper or in official records but does not have any business operations or physical presence, often used in fraud
fraud – n. the crime of cheating somebody in order to get money or goods illegally
allege – n. the crime of cheating somebody in order to get money or goods illegally
越南主要房地产投资者张美兰(Truong My Lan)因涉嫌诈骗125亿美元而受审。这是该国2022年经济总量的近3%，也是有史以来最大的金融欺诈案。
66岁的兰是房地产公司Van Thinh Phat的负责人。该公司是越南最大的房地产公司之一，其项目包括住宅、办公室、酒店和商业中心。
一份政府文件称，据报道，她使用了“数千家幽灵公司”，向政府官员行贿，并违反了银行法。文件还说，她被指控在2012年至2022年期间非法控制西贡股份商业银行，并利用该银行窃取了125亿美元。
另有85人在此案中受到指控，其中包括一名被控收受520万美元贿赂的越南国家银行前官员。兰于2022年10月被捕，如果罪名成立，他可能会被处决。
周二上午，官员们将兰带到了胡志明市的一家法庭。据越南新闻社报道，她的丈夫朱乃基在香港从事房地产投资工作，他也被要求出庭。
兰的被捕是正在进行的反腐运动的一部分，该运动使数千名官员和商界领袖受到调查。2023年1月，时任国家主席阮春福和两名高级官员因疫情期间腐败交易的“政治责任”而辞职。
但观察人士表示，反腐运动也恶化了越南的经济前景，令外国投资者感到担忧。目前，这个东南亚国家正试图让企业从中国迁出。
林恩·阮(Linh Nguyen)是总部位于华盛顿特区的“控制风险”组织的首席研究员。她说，兰氏涉嫌欺诈的规模令人惊讶。
“超过GDP的3%是非常大的，”Nguyen说。国内生产总值(GDP)是一个国家一年的生产总值。她补充说，这也引发了人们的疑问，即其他银行和企业是否“做了同样的事情，只是没有被发现。”
反腐运动也导致越南政府施政放缓。新加坡尤索夫伊沙研究所的一份报告说，政府官员担心被调查，并逃避他们的责任。
Nguyen表示，银行、金融和房地产投资领域的投资者目前也在采取“观望”的态度。
去年，据当地媒体报道，有1300家房地产公司退出市场，开发商一直在提供降价和黄金来吸引买家。
但越南共产党中央总书记阮富仲(Nguyen Phu Trong)在11月表示，反腐斗争将“长期持续下去”。