Victims of Vietnam tycoon's record scam count losses after sentence

A decade of selling diapers and baby products earned Nguyen Thi Huong a modest savings of $20,000 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.

"Who lives or dies now is no longer important to the people," said Huong.

"Victims across the country are deeply outraged," the 33-year-old told AFP, 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 $27 billion 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 communist country, which is seeking to boost its appeal as an investment destination.

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.

She said she could no longer sleep, her health deteriorated from stress and she no longer had money to send her children to tutoring, making them fall behind their peers.

"I sat by my father's grave, and wished he would take me with him in death," Huong said.

- 'Pushed to the edge' -

Fish sauce seller Hoang Thi Cuc, 44, ploughed her life savings of $140,000 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 to refund their money -- or force Lan to pay it back.

They have also joined protests demanding government action, a rarity in the communist-run country.

"I trusted the bank entirely," said Huong, who invested in SCB bonds in 2021.

"I simply put the money in the bank for interest to live on."

On Thursday, the court ordered Lan to compensate the entire amount of money stolen from the 35,824 victims, according to state media.

It 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."