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Tag: asset recovery

  • Vietnam Cuts Reserve Price by 44% for Truong My Lan Luxury Yacht

    Vietnam Cuts Reserve Price by 44% for Truong My Lan Luxury Yacht

    Vietnamese auctioneers have cut the reserve price on Truong My Lan’s luxury yacht to VND29.2 billion. Six consecutive auctions failed to draw a single bidder.

    That is a 44.3 per cent drop from its original VND52.4 billion price tag when state liquidators first offered it in January. The Ho Chi Minh City Asset Auction Service Center will run the seventh auction on Oct. 28. Interested buyers must deposit 20 per cent of the reserve price, or VND5.84 billion, before bidding begins.

    The Reverie Saigon and the Fleet

    The 2018 French-built yacht sits moored at the Tam Son Swan Bay Marina in Dong Nai Province. It was named The Reverie Saigon after Lan’s flagship luxury hotel in downtown Ho Chi Minh City. State investigators seized the vessel in late 2023 alongside two smaller passenger craft, Thalia and Electra. Both companion boats were built in 2017 and are also heading into their seventh auction attempt.

    Liquidators slashed opening bids for Thalia and Electra from an initial VND5.1 billion each to roughly VND2.3 billion per hull. That brings the combined starting price for all three vessels to just under VND34 billion. Bidders must participate in person. Under national asset disposal rules, the auction uses an ascending verbal bid structure.

    Discounting Seized Luxury Assets

    Distressed luxury vessels pose a steep liquidity challenge for Vietnamese judicial enforcement agencies. Prime commercial real estate still attracts institutional interest despite legal encumbrances. Bespoke superyachts do not. They carry high berthing fees and rapid depreciation. Very few domestic buyers are willing to risk an association with criminal proceedings.

    Secondary buyers know enforcement agencies face statutory pressure to liquidate seized holdings for court-mandated restitution. Bidders simply wait out early rounds. That forces recurring price cuts until valuations fall well below global charter and resale benchmarks. Watercraft from Van Thinh Phat follow a familiar regional pattern. Specialized lifestyle assets across Southeast Asia routinely sit through half a dozen public tenders before finding clearing prices.

    Asset Recovery in the Van Thinh Phat Fallout

    Lan, the former chairwoman of property conglomerate Van Thinh Phat, received a death sentence in 2024. She was convicted of embezzling funds from Saigon Commercial Bank and causing losses calculated at VND677 trillion. An appeals court upheld that verdict. In a separate second-phase trial, the court ordered her to pay more than VND30,081 billion in compensation to 43,108 bondholders.

    Authorities froze more than 1,200 real estate properties and seized hundreds of luxury personal items across Lan’s business network to service those claims. Courts rejected Lan’s appeals to retain personal items like the yacht and luxury fashion pieces. Other auctions have found buyers. Liquidators previously cleared a Maybach luxury vehicle for VND16.6 billion, a diamond jewelry collection for nearly VND25 billion, and two rare Hermes crocodile handbags for over VND13 billion.

    Next Steps at the Auction Center

    Registration dossiers and mandatory deposits are due at the Ho Chi Minh City Asset Auction Service Center before the Oct. 28 morning session. Live bidding will determine whether this 44 per cent reduction clears the three hulls or forces an eighth round of mandated valuation cuts.

  • 1MDB in Talks to Settle US$1.83 Billion Lawsuit with Deutsche Bank

    1MDB in Talks to Settle US$1.83 Billion Lawsuit with Deutsche Bank

    1Malaysia Development Berhad is negotiating a settlement with Deutsche Bank Malaysia Berhad over a US$1.83 billion lawsuit filed in Kuala Lumpur. Counsel for the fund confirmed the talks to the Federal Court.

    Legal counsel Datuk Lim Chee Wee disclosed the talks before a three-member Federal Court panel led by Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Seri Hashim Hamzah. High Court Judicial Commissioner Rihada Rafie will hear the proposed agreement on October 26. Financial terms remain undisclosed.

    Details of the Multi-Billion Dollar Claim

    The state investment vehicle filed the suit on May 7, 2021, targeting seven defendants. It alleged breach of contract, negligence and criminal conspiracy linked to stolen company funds. The original filing named Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, Coutts & Co, JP Morgan (Switzerland), Petrosaudi International, Petrosaudi Holdings (Cayman), Tarik Obaid and Patrick Mahony.

    Court filings alleged the defendants assisted in fraudulent transactions that caused heavy capital losses and damaged the fund’s reputation. 1MDB dropped JPMorgan and Coutts & Co from the lawsuit on November 13 last year, narrowing the scope of the case.

    Federal Court Weighs Evidence in White & Case Appeal

    Alongside the Deutsche Bank negotiations, the Federal Court panel addressed 1MDB’s application for leave to appeal a separate ruling involving London law firm White & Case LLP. Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk Seri Azizah Nawawi and Federal Court Judge Datuk Ravinthran N. Paramaguru completed the three-member bench.

    Counsel for White & Case, Datuk Dr Cyrus Das, objected to 1MDB submitting more than 3,000 pages of supplementary documents. Khoo Guan Huat, another counsel for 1MDB, stated that the records were raised during earlier case management. The apex court admitted the documents. It also directed the filing of affidavits and ordered immediate case management to fix a hearing date.

    Jurisdictional Rulings and Institutional Risk

    On August 20, the Court of Appeal overturned a High Court decision that allowed 1MDB’s fraud claim against White & Case to proceed locally. The appellate judges ruled that Malaysian courts lacked jurisdiction over the foreign firm. Filed in 2024, that suit sought US$1.83 billion plus US$33 million in consequential losses from White & Case and Mahony over allegations of assisting PetroSaudi during advisory mandates.

    Jurisdictional disputes have complicated Malaysia’s efforts to pursue international financial intermediaries and legal advisers abroad. For institutional banks and advisory firms in Southeast Asia, negotiated settlements provide legal finality while avoiding protracted discovery across multiple countries.

    Next Steps in the Recovery Proceedings

    Global investigations into billions of dollars siphoned from 1MDB previously spurred asset recovery actions across Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States. Settlements with major banks have driven Malaysia’s broader recovery efforts in recent years.

    Judicial Commissioner Rihada Rafie will take up the proposed settlement terms between 1MDB and Deutsche Bank at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on October 26.