All gone: Huong (left) and Cuc sitting with the letters sent to authorities during an interview in Hanoi. — AFP
A DECADE of selling diapers and baby products earned Nguyen Thi Huong a modest savings of US$20,000 (RM86,000) but her earnings vanished in Vietnam’s biggest-ever scam that has seen the tycoon responsible sentenced to life in prison.
Tens of thousands of people have been defrauded in the multi-billion dollar case that sent shockwaves across the communist nation, with mastermind Truong My Lan jailed for life on Thursday after being given the death penalty in a separate embezzlement case.
“Victims across the country are deeply outraged,” the 33-year-old Huong said, adding that she felt “resentment and a loss of trust in the party and government”.
Lan was sentenced to death in April for masterminding a US$27bil fraud at Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), which prosecutors said she controlled.
The loot amounted to around six percent of Vietnam’s gross domestic product in 2023, according to prosecutors and sent shockwaves across the country.
During the four-week trial in Ho Chi Minh City, prosecutors said up to 36,000 people had been defrauded by SCB.
“When I learned that I had lost all the money I had deposited at SCB Bank, I felt like I was losing my mind,” said Huong.
Fish sauce seller Hoang Thi Cuc, 44, ploughed her life savings of US$140,000 (RM603,000) into buying corporate bonds from Lan’s bank. She said she was tricked into buying the bonds.
Cuc and Huong have spent the two years since the fraud was uncovered petitioning government agencies for justice.
On Thursday, the court ordered Lan to compensate the entire amount of money stolen from the 35,824 victims, according to state media.
It however gave no details on how or when this would happen.
“I feel disappointed, it’s overwhelming, and it makes me shake all over. I need to know how I’ll be paid, not just empty promises,” said Cuc.
“There’s nothing left to lose. We have been pushed to the edge.” — AFP
