By Lucy Adautin
Vietnam’s leading soft drinks magnate received an eight-year prison sentence on Thursday in a $40 million fraud case, adding to the country’s crackdown on corruption targeting prominent business figures.
The government’s extensive anti-corruption initiative has resulted in over 4,400 individuals, including officials and senior business leaders facing criminal charges.
Tran Qui Thanh and his two daughters were found guilty by a court in Ho Chi Minh City of defrauding investors through loans obtained in 2019 and 2020.
Thanh, the 71-year-old chairman of beverage group Tan Hiep Phat, was ruled to have masterminded scams to appropriate assets put up as collateral against loans, state media reported.
Despite borrowers repaying their loans with interest, Thanh would withhold assets under various pretexts, alleging contract breaches and revoking repurchase rights.
Thanh’s 43-year-old daughter, Tran Uyen Phuong, the company’s deputy CEO, received a four-year prison term.
Younger daughter Tran Ngoc Bich, 40, was handed a suspended three-year sentence.
Tan Hiep Phat stands as one of Vietnam’s prominent beverage companies, acclaimed for its assortment of bottled tea and energy drinks.
In his closing statement to the court, Thanh expressed remorse and willingness to accept accountability for the situation.
“I would like to be given leniency, handing me the chance to come back to society soon for my continued work and devotion,” Thanh was quoted as saying.
Some of Vietnam’s most successful business leaders have been snared in the graft purge.
In one of the biggest fraud cases in history, property tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced to death earlier this month for masterminding a swindle that has caused losses estimated at $27 billion.
Lan, alongside 85 others, including senior banking officials faced justice for charges encompassing bribery, power abuse, appropriation, and violations of banking law.
In March, a Hanoi court sentenced luxury property tycoon Do Anh Dung to eight years in prison for defrauding thousands of investors in a $355 million bond scheme.
State media disclosed that Dung and his son, serving a three-year sentence, have already reimbursed the $355 million.
