Van Thinh Phat's 'huge' ecosystem
Ms. Truong My Lan (1956) founded Van Thinh Phat Co., Ltd. in 1992, initially operating in the field of commerce and restaurant - hotel business. Later, the company expanded into Van Thinh Phat Group, operating in the real estate business with many restaurants, hotels, office buildings and apartment buildings.
After many years, Ms. Truong My Lan has created an "ecosystem" of Van Thinh Phat with a series of subsidiaries, typically: Van Thinh Phat Joint Stock Company, An Dong Investment Joint Stock Company, Time Square Investment Joint Stock Company, Group Saigon Peninsula group,…
This is a group of companies specializing in real estate investment. Right from the first days of establishment (in 2007), these businesses were said to be related to the shareholder group of Saigon Bank (SCB) and VIPD Group.
The common characteristic of this group is that they have "super huge" registered charter capital, all around 10.000 billion VND.
Van Thinh Phat has two major projects: An Dong Commercial Hotel - Windsor Plaza Hotel and Sherwood Residence luxury apartment building.
In Ho Chi Minh City, Ms. Truong My Lan is known as the "boss" of "huge" real estate projects located in many of Saigon's most prime locations such as Times Square, VTP Office Building, Duxton Hotel, Union Square…
Besides, Van Thinh Phat also owns a series of other super projects such as: Bonville Land residential area, Sterling Residence luxury residential area, Lambert Residence luxury apartment complex, Thuan Kieu Plaza; Central Nguyen Hue coffee restaurant, Huu Nghi restaurant and Duc Bao restaurant, are all located in the center of District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.
For a long time, Van Thinh Phat was ranked among the largest and most mysterious family companies in Vietnam. There is very little news about this business leader and almost no media exposure.
Information about Van Thinh Phat became more known after the wedding between Truong Hue Van - the fourth generation businessman of the Truong family - with singer and musician Thanh Bui at the end of 2013.
In 2022, Van Thinh Phat was mentioned a lot in the press for his role related to two companies winning land auctions in Thu Thiem.
Specifically, Sheen Mega Joint Stock Company won the auction for lots 3-8 at a price of 4.000 billion VND and Dream Republic Joint Stock Company bought lots 3-5 for 3.820 billion VND. However, these two companies also "followed" Tan Hoang Minh in abandoning their deposits after winning the Thu Thiem land auction.
The most prominent in the Van Thinh Phat ecosystem is the group of financial institutions, including SCB Bank, Tan Viet Securities Company, Vinh Phu Financial Investment Joint Stock Company. SCB Bank is considered the main organization providing capital to businesses in the Van Thinh Phat ecosystem.
Ms. Truong My Lan regularly holds 80-90% of SCB Bank shares by asking someone to own the shares and has a decisive voice at this bank with assets of more than half a million billion dong.
Ms. Truong My Lan and the Van Thinh Phat ecosystem withdrew SCB's money through real estate businesses, restaurants, and hotels; through ghost companies, ghost projects with assets that do not meet legal requirements, assets with inflated values...
In addition, Ms. Truong My Lan also has a network of many shell companies in "tax haven" territories and countries.
According to the investigation conclusion of the Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security, during its operation, Van Thinh Phat Group has built the Van Thinh Phat ecosystem with more than 1.000 businesses including subsidiaries and member companies in and around the world. abroad, with hundreds of individuals hired as legal representatives or as relatives, officials, and employees.
A series of scandals
Over the past decade, Van Thinh Phat has been considered one of the leading corporations in Vietnam in the field of real estate investment and business, with financial potential that is said to be very strong, and is often present in projects. Very large projects and famous acquisition deals.
In addition to her reputation in business, this businesswoman has been named in scandals many times.
In 2014, Ms. Truong My Lan was named by Mr. Duong Chi Dung at the trial of Mr. Duong Tu Trong, related to a senior leader of the Ministry of Public Security.
In 2016, the press also mentioned Lan's name a lot because some characters in the "Panama Papers" had the same name as her and her husband. The "Panama Papers" are the largest document leak in world history, revealing how the rich and powerful transferred money abroad from 1977 until the end of December 12.
In 2017, the name Truong My Lan continued to cause a stir with the news that she and 9 other family members applied to renounce their Vietnamese citizenship. After that, she and her relatives all withdrew their documents and were returned.
She was also a defendant in a debt collection lawsuit by an overseas Vietnamese in Hong Kong.
In 2022, Van Thinh Phat Group was named by the Government Inspectorate for violations in house and land conversion projects in Ho Chi Minh City.
In October 10, businesswoman Truong My Lan - Chairman of Van Thinh Phat Group - was prosecuted and detained by the Police Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security for investigation of property fraud.
Initial investigation results determined that the defendants had committed fraudulent acts in issuing and buying and selling illegal bonds to appropriate trillions of dong from the people in the two years 2018-2019.
During this period, a number of companies in the Van Thinh Phat ecosystem such as Norah Interior Design and Decoration Joint Stock Company and An Dong Investment Group Joint Stock Company (investor of An Dong Commercial Hotel) mobilized bonds worth tens of trillions of VND (equivalent to billions of USD) quietly and quietly. Many bonds were issued by Tan Viet Securities Joint Stock Company (TVSI) and guaranteed payment by SCB Bank. Some have no guarantees or collateral.
Many businesses in the Van Thinh Phat ecosystem have Chinese leaders/former leaders such as Norah, Saigon Pearl Investment...
Van Thinh Phat is also said to be related to a mysterious group of Chinese shareholders with activities to acquire golden land in Ho Chi Minh City, such as the case of 6.000 square meters at 2-2-4 Hai Ba Trung (District 6, Ho Chi Minh City). ) after being exposed from a State Audit report related to Sabeco's management and use of state capital and assets in 1.
On November 17, Ms. Lan was proposed to be prosecuted by the Police Investigation Agency (Ministry of Public Security) for three crimes: Bribery, Violation of regulations on banking operations, and Asset embezzlement. Ms. Lan was accused of controlling SCB Bank's operations to appropriate 11 billion VND - about 304.096 billion USD.
