🥖 Gold Rush

Xin chào! Sunday’s here, which can only mean one thing: your next Bánh Mì Brief is hot and ready. Vietnam’s business world doesn’t rest, and neither do we. Sit back, sip your cà phê sữa đá, and catch up on this week’s biggest moves.

This week’s headlines: Gold, Ships, (more) IPOs, and Planes.

Let‘s dive in.

One of Vietnam’s most dramatic white-collar crime saga reached its finale this week as Le Thuy Hang, former CEO of state-owned gold producer SJC, received a 25-year prison sentence for her elaborate embezzlement scheme.

Between 2021-2024, Hang orchestrated a masterclass in corporate fraud, inflating gold loss rates during production to pocket nearly 96 taels of gold, masterminding fake customer lists to smuggle 34 kilograms of precious metal, and ordering her team to illegally manufacture over 6,200 SJC-branded gold bars.

Her 15 accomplices received sentences ranging from suspended two-year terms to over 22 years, with the court ordering repayment of 640 kilograms of gold to the state. The timing could not be more ironic: Just weeks after the State Bank announced it would end SJC’s monopoly on gold bullion production starting October 10, allowing qualified commercial banks to enter the market. Crime does not pay, especially when you’re playing with Vietnam’s golden goose.