On March 5, a landmark trial involving Vietnamese real estate developer Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group (VTP), officially commenced at the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City. At the center of the trial is real estate tycoon and VTP chairwoman Trương Mỹ Lan, accused of misappropriating $12.5 billion from the country’s largest bank, Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB), violating banking regulations and bribing government officials along the way. Lan joins 85 co-defendants who facilitated her embezzlement scheme, including 45 former SCB executives, 15 former State Bank…
