Victims of the Vietnamese tycoon’s record-breaking scam are counting their losses after their conviction

HANOI – Ten years of selling diapers and baby products have left Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong with a modest savings of US$20,000 ($26,250), but her earnings have disappeared in Vietnam’s biggest ever scam, with the tycoon responsible sentenced to life in prison.

Tens of thousands of people have been defrauded in the multibillion-dollar case that sent shockwaves through the communist nation, with mastermind Truong My Lan jailed for life on Oct. 17 after being given the death penalty in a separate embezzlement case.

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

“Victims across the country are deeply outraged,” the 33-year-old told AFP, adding that she felt “resentment and a loss of confidence in the party and the government”.

Lan was sentenced to death in April for masterminding a $27 billion fraud at the Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), which prosecutors said was under her control.

The loot amounted to about 6 percent of Vietnam’s gross domestic product by 2023, according to prosecutors, sending shockwaves through the communist country as it seeks to broaden 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 heard that I had lost all the money I deposited in SCB Bank, I felt like I was going crazy,” Ms Huong said.

She said she could no longer sleep, her health deteriorated due to stress and she no longer had the money to tutor her children, causing them to fall behind their peers.

“I sat at my father’s grave and wished he would take me with him in death,” Ms Huong said.