VIETNAM Hanoi sentences Truong My Lan to death, but corruption remains endemic

The businesswoman allegedly pocketed an amount equivalent to 3% of Vietnam's GDP in 2022. With her other 85 people in the dock, a dozen face the death penalty. Lawyers announce a request for life imprisonment. The arrest is part of the “Burning Furnace” maxi-investigation launched in 2016, which reveals the distortions of capitalism in the communist sauce.

Hanoi () – The death sentence handed down to real estate magnate Truong My Lan, 67, which has grabbed media headlines around the world, is Hanoi's attempt to clean up its image in the midst of a general panorama of widespread corruption. The trial of the century against the leader of the Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, which began on March 5 and ended yesterday, reveals the distortions of a country – and a system hit to its foundations – that after the leadership of the single communist party has opened the door to capitalism and the market. From the former president forced to resign to the most anonymous of officials, the publicity given to the campaign to combat prevarication – combined with the heavy hand used in the courts – are actually a sign of fragility and an attempt to save the face internationally.

Pending the appeal, what characterizes the process against the manager are the impressive figures: from her beginnings with her mother in the cosmetics trade in the central market of Ho Chi Minh City to her rise in the real estate sector with the creation of the company in 1992, in 11 years it obtained loans worth 25 billion euros from Saigon Commercial Bank. A figure close to 3% of Vietnam's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2022, of which, according to the accusation, she never returned a single installment, contributing to emptying the bank's coffers. Along with her, another 85 people considered “accomplices” have been placed in preventive detention and, of them, at least 10 face the death penalty like her.

Starting from nothing, Truong My Lan knew how to exploit Vietnam's turn towards capitalism in communist sauce (according to the Chinese model) by purchasing buildable areas and real estate, hotels and restaurants, in a country where the land is – at least nominally – property of the State. Thanks to a system of front men – and a proven network of bribes and bribery, at least according to the accusation – the businesswoman entered the bank, owning 90% of the shares, when the country's regulations limit this participation for individuals to a maximum of 5%. In this way, she had access to the coffers and direct control in the appointment of directors and directors, while she saved obstacles on the way to business with million-dollar bribes.

What is surprising are the figures from the trial itself: the evidence was contained in 104 boxes weighing four tons, 2,770 people were called to testify and the investigation was entrusted to 10 prosecutors and 200 lawyers. Over the years, the woman allegedly orchestrated a fraud of more than 12 billion euros, amassing a personal fortune of 100 trillion dong (equivalent to 4 billion euros) withdrawn and transported over time by the personal chauffeur. her. Defense lawyers now have 15 days to file an appeal in an attempt to have the death sentence commuted to life imprisonment, while Lan has accused collaborators of “suicidal thoughts” from the beginning, in addition to calling himself “stupid” for getting “into this vicious economic environment.”

In reality, the problem of corruption in Vietnam is much more widespread and deep-rooted, and goes far beyond the show trial with which the communist authorities try to remake their image internationally.

Lan's arrest in October 2022 is also part of an anti-corruption initiative called “Fire Oven” that was launched in 2016 and that, six years later, has accelerated dramatically, affecting – and overwhelming – even the high echelons of the country. Two presidents and two heads of government have been forced to resign in recent years, but that is just the tip of the iceberg that includes hundreds of Communist Party officials at all levels and for some of whom prison sentences have been requested. death. Many people have been detained or disciplined at all levels in an attempt to curb a phenomenon that threatens to undermine the nation's own economy, as the case of the vehicle registration “crisis” demonstrates. According to the United Nations Development Program and other NGOs on the ground, corruption is so entrenched that in some provinces many people claim to pay bribes just to obtain services and medical care, even in public hospitals.