Vietnam jails ex-Saigon Jewelry CEO as US$4 million gold bullion scam costs state dearly

Using the fact that Saigon Jewelry was Vietnam’s sole gold bar producer, she sold the metal at a higher price and pocketed the difference

A Vietnamese court convicted a former top-ranking gold executive and 15 others in a case that spotlighted shortcomings in the state’s monopoly on gold trading, which is now being scrapped in favour of a more market-oriented approach.

Le Thuy Hang, the ex-CEO of Saigon Jewelry Company, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for embezzlement and the abuse of power for taking advantage of government policies related to precious metals on Monday, VnExpress reported. SJC, as the firm is known, was the country’s only legal producer of gold bars at the time.

The report said Hang was found to be the mastermind of a scheme that prosecutors had described as involving the reprocessing of gold bars, production of rings, and abuse of a central bank programme to stabilise prices of the precious metal.

The 16 defendants were accused of pocketing the price difference from diverting state-supplied bullion to private buyers at higher rates from 2012 to 2024, causing losses of over 107 billion dong (US$4 million) to SJC, state-run Nguoi Lao Dong reported earlier.

Hang also covered up her tracks by asking her subordinates to create fake documents, including a list of more than 4,300 customers who bought 350kg (770lbs) of gold from mid-June to the end of August last year.

“The defendants carried out extremely sophisticated acts to overcome the close supervision of the central bank,” the panel of judges said, adding that the case should be treated as “organised crime”, given how the crimes were committed over a long period of time.

The convictions come a day after the central bank released draft regulations for a new market structure that will see the state loosen its grip on trading of the precious metal. The reforms are aimed at ending distortions that left local gold prices trading at a significant premium to offshore levels, leading to smuggling and pressure on the dong.

The case also comes amid a multi-year anti-corruption crackdown that has ensnared hundreds of officials and executives, including property tycoon Truong My Lan, who has been handed a death sentence. The so-called blazing furnace campaign has also led to the resignation of two former presidents and three deputy prime ministers.

The defendants are being forced to compensate SJC for the losses, including Hang having to pay more than 14 billion dong to the company and over 73 billion dong to the government, according to various state media. They must also return gold that was illegally processed into bars and rings.

It was not immediately clear if those convicted would appeal the convictions or sentences.

By Linh Vu Nguyen & Nguyen Xuan Quynh – Bloomberg – September 30, 2025