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An appellate court hearing opened today in the case involving Saigon Jewelry Joint Stock Company (SJC). The appeal challenges a first-instance verdict issued on September 30, 2025, by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court, which convicted Lê Thúy Hằng, the former CEO of SJC, along with other defendants.
In the first-instance ruling, Hằng was sentenced to 25 years in prison on two charges. The remaining 15 defendants were convicted of accomplice offenses, with sentences ranging from two years’ probation to 22 years six months for one of the two charges, related to “embezzlement” and “abuse of power while performing official duties.”
The first-instance verdict also ordered Lê Thúy Hằng to reimburse SJC more than 14 billion dong and to return 73 billion dong, 5,411 taels of SJC gold bars, and 5,410 taels of gold jewelry to the State. The court further retained 45 billion dong that the defendant had already paid to remedy the consequences of the case.
According to the first-instance verdict, Lê Thúy Hằng and her co-defendants caused more than 107 billion dong of damage to state assets. Of this total, the court cited 11.6 billion dong from embezzlement and 95.8 billion dong from losses and ill-gotten gains.
The appellate court adjourned the session due to the absence of some persons with rights and interests, and set April 28 to reconvene.
The report also notes: “Former SJC CEO must execute the sentence according to the market price of SJC gold.”
Report attributed to Tân Châu and Tiền Phong.
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