The $12.5 Billion Heist

Who gets the movie rights?

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On to the news.

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If you had ‘Vietnam announces one of the largest financial crimes in world history’ on your 2023 bingo card, congratulations.

On Friday, the Police Investigation Agency under the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced the results of its long-running Vạn Thịnh Phát (VTP) investigation, which has generated numerous blockbuster headlines since the arrest of Trương Mỹ Lan, VTP’s founder, in October 2022.

But no headline was more blockbuster than this: MPS alleges that Lan used Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) as her personal wallet, ultimately appropriating roughly US$12.5 billion (VND304 trillion) in deposits from what was once Vietnam's fifth-largest bank.

For context, that figure equates to roughly 3% of Vietnam’s 2022 GDP (US$409 billion); more than the market cap of every Vietnamese bank but Vietcombank; and more than the combined wealth of the country’s five billionaires. If someone stole a value equal to 3% of American GDP, that would be US$810 billion. We’re talking historic numbers on a global scale here.

Today’s article covers:

• Lan’s remarkable theft

• SCB’s complicity

• The State Bank of Vietnam’s role

• What next?