How did billionaire Truong My Lan steal 3% of Vietnam's 2022 GDP? | DW News 

You don't do this BS alone...

She didn't act alone. She promised some people money to help her steal and they would get a cut and when she got greedy, they testified against her

She didn’t get caught. She getting sacrificed.

There are 86 people who have been imprisoned, one death penalty and three life sentence, many are sentenced between 3 to 20 years. This guy knows very superficially.

So, government is also guilty.

She paid off the wrong people it seems .

I live in Vietnam and I can confirm this. The more I research the laws for my job, the more of the risk violating it I feel. The laws are so vague that it only allows the tax official to interprete it the way they want and almost impossible to do the norm of my industry without violating the law in some ways. 5:11 "Everyone who does business in Vietnam has to try to evade the laws or violate the law in in some ways because the laws are vague and the laws are are meant to serve the officials and not to serve the business or the people so the laws made to serve the the officials the government so whenever the government want to use the law against you they can use it and so uh so it it's very uh it's almost impossible to do any business in Vietnam without violating the laws."

She forgot to kick 10% up to "The Big Guy".

It seems that the government is equally complicit here.

The Vietnamese government is guilty as well then

How come this sentence was not applied to the corrupt officials in our country 🇵🇭

I am VN lawyer and got LL.M in an New York Law School, the actual reasons are between the lines. The banking and securities laws in Vietnam also contributed to this wrongdoing case. Besides, the competent administrators did knowingly learnt about her frauds (actually not only hers). There are complex issues here but personally the biggest issue here is the legal system and enforcement bodies.

She's the one that got caught. There's still more of them that's hasn't been caught.

At 68, she still looks good, she looks calm even with a death sentence, at her age, she got nothing much to lose, she had been rich and powerful for a very long time whilst many poor Vietnamese people are still suffering from poverty.

“ It is almost imposible to do bussiness in Vietnam without violating the law “

Wonderful interview without any interruptions. Great job ❤

12 million I understand but 12.5 billion? I'm dumbfounded. Vietnam?

As mentioned in the video, an awful lot of people participated in this corruption case. They should get harsh sentences as well.

There is an old saying that no one goes to prison because of debt...but this news, is surprising, because the sentence for financial crime is immediate death sentence.Unbelievably Ridiculous.

Thank you DW News and thank you Mr. Tung Vu

So why is she the only one going six feet under for this? She might have been at the top but you dont keep that going for so long without a whole lot of people holding it up

if this was going on for 10 years who is auditing the public sector accounts 😬 very sad for ordinary Vietnamese workers.

I hope the Vietnamese get this all straightened out. They have suffered so much as a country over the years. I think that a big part of getting this resolved is for the government to use total transparency as to what they are doing to fix the situation. The transparency method might lead to the best decisions being made for the country and it's people.

In the West this woman would be considered a titan of finance .

Upper middle class in Vietnam is $1,500 a month, this level of corruption can destabilize a nation.

As a newbie that wants to invest, you must have these three things in mind 1. Have a long term mindset. 2. Be willing to take risk. 3. Be careful on money usage, if you're not spending to earn back, then stop spending. 4. Never claim to know - Ask questions and it's best you work with a financial advisor.

Pretty sure her kids living a comfortable luxury life in US with the stolen money.

NEVER ENOUGH..… no one is poorer then greedy people..

She didn't pay the right person off

at 5:19... the laws are vague to serve the official, not the business or the people.

That's is the first time I hear someone sentenced to death by fraud. I guess it's only Vietnam?

To summarize what i read from her Wikipedia: She robbed the bank by owning it

The anchor is 100% correct - this should be made into a movie. This was a great report especially for people like myself who know nothing of modern day Vietnam.

Corruption is a way of life in Vietnam. Trust me, I worked there for two years and paid bribes of my own on occasion.

Thanks Awesome 👍

The reason why she is so calm is probably cos she knows she can bribe her way out of the death sentence. The commentator also said she has moved past multiple prior convictions as well.

I'm betting she was set up and is a scapegoat for more powerful men

I studied Urban Planning in VGU and we always talked about the real estate bubble in VN that is about to explode; now we see the cause...

Wouldn't it be KIND if the recovered money went for helping the poorest Vietnamese with food, clothing, and shelter? Education

The Guest didn't answer the question "how did she steal the money", but trying to push his narrative all over the place. She withdrew the regular people's life savings using fraud, proxies. Basically she built her own banks and stole money from the people, depositors, bondholders 42,000 victims and their families impacted, suffered severely.

business and corruption are the same until you piss someone off.

She didn’t get much mostly goes to commy secretary, prime minister, president of parliament, minister of the police. Vietnamese peoples call them for the 4 mountains.

There they don't like competitions. Here in US we gave only 5 years.

Somebody in Hollywood probably already bought the rights to this story, so it’s coming soon to a theater near you!

Thank you. This is the first broadcast that explains the situation that I could understand.

Here in Philippines like her will be honored as hero, corruption her is like superhero. People will still love you 😂😂😂

Why these news not shown in us media news?

When the right people didn't get paid

People die over 5$ in the ghetto, 12 billion dollars would exterminate more than just your family tree. Heck they'd probably get you in the after life too.

I think one jealous official who wanted payments did not get it, blew the whistle.

Indonesia got many similiar cases like this with varied amount

Imagine if corruption in the USA was treated like this.

3% is *wild*. To put into context, the US's military budget is ~3.5% of our GDP. 😭

SHE IS NOT ALONE, people in powerful positions allowed her to do this.

$12.5 billion would buy a lot of bánh mì.

$1 million makes your life comfortable in the US, $1 billion super duper comfortable. But $12.5 billions?!!!!😮

i am so proud that, she is the only Vietnamese person who shocked the whole world at a diff level.

In our country she would have become our PM or President in the Parliament

We should have that court here too😢

If you loan too much, it's bank problem. If you own that bank, it's government and official problem.

Why on earth does a person need 12.5 billion? How could you spend it?

Closer to 3% of GDP but yeah it’s a lot of money

I can’t believe this guy is a scientist/ professor from a university

Amateur hour ... Since 1971, $50 trillion moved from the 99% to the 1% in the USA.

Thanks Professor.

Can you imagine you get a face lift.. and one week later you're in jail?

Can confirm. I have a business in Vietnam. It is close to impossible to not break the law. The tax system is a nightmare!!

How much money do you have to steal before you say enough & ride off into the sunset?! 😂😂😂

In the meantime, the Big Guy enjoys his 10% without any problems.

I wonder why she didn't do what Jho Low did, run away, hide, and live in luxury.

I want to hear more about how the laws are structured. The part that he touched on when the video ended

She seems not too worried. She still believes she can get away with this.

With that much money stolen she could have done a much better facial reconstruction.

I like this interviewer. He seems to be always so curious and attentive.

She doesn’t look too worried over the death sentence. With her money she will probably overturn the conviction.

And nowhere in the video does it actually say "what she did with 12.5B dollars". Come on DW. Are you creating click-bait headline now? Very disappointed in you.

Since 1971, $50 trillion moved from the 99% to the 1% in the USA.

Unfortunately she's in Vietnam In the Philippines death penalty was abolished & no corrupt billionaires in PH jails

What fantastic coverage and a throughly professional interview. So refreshing. I almost ashamed to say the US national stations (FOX, CNN, MSMBC…etc.) can’t seem to give an unbiased presentation of facts if the business depended on it. (Of course, given the state of our society these days, seems their business depends on partisan presentations….) Thanks DW for doing it right!

So why don't they sentenced those who helped her or who she bribed?

The love for money is the root of all evil , no matter what language or country that person is.

Well explained!!!!

1:48 Unnoticed? Ofc those in position would have known what's happening.

She had been used the bank as a Ponzi tool. The Money didn’t pass to her pocket but also to the earlier loaners.

Excellent

Her biggest crime are those eyebrows

Ever notice how its old people now a days who are stealing

I hope it's televized.

Both the professor and DW are making a huge mistake, those 12.5 billion dollars isn't 10% of Vietnam's GDP, but rather 3.47% of its GDP, seeing that Vietnam had a forecasted GDP of 433.37 billion dollars in 2023 according to the IMF. Don't get me wrong, 12.5 billion dollars is still A LOT of money, but it still is a far cry from being 10% of a countries total GDP.

I see Netflix doing a series about this.😂

Sounds like standard corporate greed. How much $$ do you actually need?

It's the people in the government that didn't get paid off that wanting Truong My Lan Death but they will turn Vietnam into another Cuba,cause they are so smart and righteous...yours very truly Alfonso Cantu USMC

“How do you steal 10% of a country’s GDP and nobody noticed?” 😂

Her husband is from China that where all the money went to.

I'm from Vietnam, she cheated a huge amount of money, more than 600 trillion Vietnamese dong equivalent to 44 billion dollars, and was eventually sentenced to death, 3 life sentences, and many other convictions....she has a lot of buildings in Vietnam, between several buildings up to several billion dollars and a series of other real estate, she is Vietnamese but originally from Chinese

The woman is a legend. She just made use of the existing system to her benefit. Its not her fault that the system has always been corrupt in Vietnam.

Finally women getting equal representation in Fraud and Corruption. The world is really progressing ☺

Did ALL THE OTHERS get the death sentence as well!? 🤔 Or is it just the Money Holder? 👽

Most 3rd world countries have it this bad. It's great Vietnam are doing something about it this time, but as Chung Vu said, the laws are meant to serve those in power, not the people. Are the laws going to be changed or are other officials just going to fill that void she's left behind?

OMGosh! Death is really excessive! She's only in her 30's. Have mercy! She was not the only one!!