A single click disburses thousands of billions to 43,000 Van Thinh Phat bondholders

The Ho Chi Minh City Civil Judgment Enforcement Department has, with one click, simultaneously disbursed thousands of billions of dong to over 43,000 bondholders in the Truong My Lan case, an unprecedented innovation in the industry's history.

The major Van Thinh Phat case involves over 43,100 bondholders, with a total enforcement amount exceeding 673,000 billion VND. "This is an unprecedented case in the history of civil judgment enforcement, given the immense number of parties and assets to be processed," stated Do Phong Hoa, Deputy Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Civil Judgment Enforcement Department.

The pressure on the enforcement sector extends beyond just speed, encompassing the demand for absolute accuracy. The assets requiring processing range from real estate, shares, and bonds to various complex financial transactions.

For many days and nights, at the Ho Chi Minh City Civil Judgment Enforcement Department headquarters on Nguyen Van Luong Street, dozens of enforcement officers, along with IT engineers, accountants, and administrative staff, diligently worked to develop software for the enforcement of the Truong My Lan case.

"How long would this take manually?" This question was frequently raised during meetings. Based on their experience with case processing, enforcement officers recognized that traditional methods could no longer meet the requirements for speed and accuracy. Ultimately, the enforcement sector decided to digitize the entire process and develop proprietary software named "bondholder management."

The system's requirements were to process quickly, save time, and ensure transparency, openness, and "absolute accuracy."

An enforcement officer from Department 2 of the Ho Chi Minh City Civil Judgment Enforcement Department mentioned that enforcement agencies typically become involved only after a judgment takes legal effect. However, in the Truong My Lan case, the unit collaborated with the Investigation Police Department for Corruption, Economic, and Smuggling Crimes (Ministry of Public Security) and the Supreme People's Procuracy from the investigation phase.

Personnel from the three agencies then jointly received evidence and reviewed the seizure of assets such as cash, gold, real estate, and many other properties.

After receiving the case files, the Ho Chi Minh City Civil Judgment Enforcement Department established three task forces comprising 24 experienced enforcement officers. These teams quickly began reviewing records, verifying information of the judgment beneficiaries, reconciling revenues, and performing payment procedures for bondholders.

Enforcement officers of Ho Chi Minh City Civil Judgment Enforcement Department operate the software. Photo: Pham Du

Two software programs running concurrently

Sending notifications by mail would mean no one knew when the over 43,000 bondholders would receive them. Therefore, the Civil Judgment Enforcement Department under the Ministry of Justice collaborated with the Ministry of Public Security to send notifications via the VNeID application, replacing traditional methods. This approach significantly reduced both time and costs.

Concurrently, another software program, also named "bondholder management," was developed. This system integrates multiple functions, including a list of judgment beneficiaries, payment management, and tracking of disbursement batches.

Enforcement officers collaborated with administrative and IT staff for three months to finalize the software. Subsequently, about 50 people worked day and night in shifts to input data for tens of thousands of bondholders.

According to the enforcement agency, the application of information technology marked a turning point in the enforcement process for the Truong My Lan case. While a case file previously had to pass through many departments for signatures, it now requires only a few computer operations. Any information adjustments are also much faster and more efficient compared to manual methods, which involved printing, signing, and redoing paperwork from scratch.

Interface of the bondholder management software. Photo: Pham Du

An enforcement officer cited the experience of enforcing judgments for over 4,500 people in the Alibaba case to illustrate how much time manual work would consume.

"For example, if we could pay about 100 people per day, it would take about 45 days to pay all 4,500 people. Moreover, this method would lead to complaints about why some people receive payments later than others," the officer explained.

With the bondholder management software, all information about judgment beneficiaries is displayed on the system. After each asset is processed, the enforcement officer simply inputs the amount, and the software automatically distributes it according to each person's entitled proportion.

"Ultimately, with just one click, all bondholders receive their money simultaneously," an enforcement officer stated.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Civil Judgment Enforcement Department, applying technology in this field not only demands "absolute accuracy" but also requires very strict security. However, this pressure has also compelled enforcement officers to be more meticulous, patient, and innovative in handling this unprecedented case.

9 disbursement batches for bondholders in the Van Thinh Phat case. Graphic: Pham Du

According to enforcement officers, previously, after assets were processed, money would be transferred through the State Treasury before being disbursed to judgment beneficiaries. This process was time-consuming due to the need for official letters, sending and receiving documents through multiple stages, and incurring additional postal and printing costs.

Furthermore, if payments were made using the old method, only about 50 people could be processed daily. With nearly 43,000 bondholders in the Van Thinh Phat case, this process could extend to 860 days, equivalent to over two years.

The application of information technology has streamlined the entire process to just a few operations on the bondholder management software. After funds are recovered, enforcement officers review the data, determine enforcement costs, and each person's entitled proportion.

"Simply input the amount, and the system automatically calculates enforcement fees, identifies cases eligible for exemption, who bears the fees, and how much money each bondholder receives proportionally. After approval from leadership, the enforcement officer just needs to press the transfer button, and the money goes directly from the enforcement agency's account to the bondholder's account," an enforcement officer explained.

Thanks to this software, citizens no longer have to visit the enforcement agency in person to sign documents or receive cash as before. Payments are made entirely via bank transfer.

After the appellate judgment took effect in June 2025, the Ho Chi Minh City Civil Judgment Enforcement Department issued an enforcement decision, obliging Truong My Lan to compensate over 30,081 billion VND to victims and individuals with related rights and obligations concerning the bond codes specified in the judgment.

"With just one command, the enforcement agency performed nine simultaneous transfers to nearly 43,000 parties, totaling over 12,000 billion VND. To date, the system maintains absolute accuracy and has not generated any complaints," Do Phong Hoa, Deputy Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Civil Judgment Enforcement Department, said, adding that this result was "beyond imagination."

Currently, 534 bondholders have not yet provided account information, so the enforcement agency has not been able to disburse their funds. This money has been placed in savings pending further processing.

Do Phong Hoa, Deputy Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Civil Judgment Enforcement Department. Photo: Pham Du

Enormous asset block

According to the enforcement decision, Truong My Lan is responsible for compensating over 30,000 billion VND to over 43,000 bondholders, including victims and those with related rights and obligations associated with bond codes QT-2018.12.1; SET.H2025; ADC-2018.09; ADC-2019.01; ADC-2018.09.01 and SNW-2018.10.

There are still 534 bondholders who have not provided their account information, preventing the enforcement agency from making payments. These funds have been deposited into savings awaiting further action.

Beyond the pressure of disbursing funds, the Ho Chi Minh City Civil Judgment Enforcement Department also faces the task of managing an asset block described as "unprecedentedly large" in the industry's history. Real estate alone includes over 1,169 seized properties, with Ho Chi Minh City accounting for 1,026, and the remainder scattered across Tay Ninh, Lam Dong, Hanoi, Hue, Dong Nai, and Quang Ninh.

In addition to real estate, the enforcement agency must also handle other assets such as shares, stocks, capital contributions, and numerous high-value movable assets like luxury handbags, yachts, and supercars.

Earlier this year, the Ho Chi Minh City Civil Judgment Enforcement Department attempted to auction Truong My Lan's yacht, The Reverie Saigon, with an initial price of 52 billion VND, but found no buyers. After multiple unsuccessful auctions, the starting price for this month's auction was reduced to 42.5 billion VND.

In early May, the Ho Chi Minh City Asset Auction Service Center further announced an online auction for two of Truong My Lan's albino Hermes bags.

One white Hermes bag, size 30, had a starting price of 2.34 billion VND; the other, of the same brand, size 25, adorned with white stones on the clasp and bag trim, was offered at 1.77 billion VND.

The two assets are being auctioned separately, with a bidding increment of 50 million VND. Participants must deposit 20% of the starting price in advance and are allowed to inspect the assets before the auction.

An officer from the Ho Chi Minh City Civil Judgment Enforcement Department discusses the software for the Truong My Lan case. Video: Pham Du

In April 2025, the Ho Chi Minh City High People's Court conducted the phase two appellate trial, accepting Truong My Lan's appeal for a reduced sentence. It reduced her life imprisonment to 20 years for fraudulent appropriation of assets; upheld the 12-year sentence for money laundering and the 8-year sentence for illegally transporting currency across borders; resulting in a combined sentence of 30 years in prison (the maximum for a fixed-term sentence).

Previously, in phase one of the case in December 2024, Truong My Lan's death sentence for embezzlement of assets, bribery, and violating lending regulations in the operations of credit institutions was upheld by the Ho Chi Minh City High People's Court. She was ordered to compensate SCB nearly 674,000 billion VND.

According to the verdict, if Truong My Lan actively remedied three-quarters of the consequences, her sentence could be reconsidered for life imprisonment. In total, across both phases, Truong My Lan is obligated to enforce over 704,000 billion VND.