Mrs. Vietnam pageant winner Tuyet Nga appears in court.

At 8 am this morning, dressed in a striking pink outfit, the 2009 Successful Businesswoman Beauty Queen looked quite calm as she was brought to court, after three years of detention.

On July 21, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court opened a trial against Ms. Truong Thi Tuyet Nga (55 years old, director of Vu Lan Investment and Construction Co., Ltd.) for the crime of fraud and appropriation of property.

According to the allegations, around July 2010, Ms. Nga hired someone to design a high-end apartment complex and office tower on a 35,000 m2 plot of land in Binh Khanh Ward, District 2. This project was not licensed by the authorities because it was located within the Thu Thiem railway station planning area. The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee also issued a directive prohibiting the transfer or illegal construction. However, Ms. Nga continued to advertise and offer the land for sale.

Through an introduction, Ms. Nga found a client, Ms. Linh. To build trust, the beauty queen took the client to see the land and the land use rights certificate registered in her and her husband's names. Ms. Linh subsequently agreed to purchase the project for $54 million.

Ms. Nga was brought to court. Photo: XD

Ms. Nga drafted a land transfer contract and requested a deposit of $500,000 USD from Ms. Linh. Finding the contract rudimentary, Ms. Linh questioned it and demanded that Ms. Nga's husband sign it. At this point, the beauty queen said, "We'll sign a detailed contract when the money is handed over… my husband isn't old enough to sign, it would ruin everything." Trusting her, Ms. Linh gave Ms. Nga the entire deposit. Early the following year, the two parties continued to sign numerous agreements, memoranda, and money transfers to carry out the project.

In total, Ms. Nga received $3.1 million from clients but failed to fulfill her commitments. Ms. Linh became suspicious and, upon investigation, discovered that the project was fictitious.

The investigating agency determined that, during the same period, even though she had already transferred 30,000 m2 of land to Ms. Linh, the beauty queen still signed a contract to transfer 3,000 m2 to Mr. Muoi for nearly 1.5 billion VND, committing that "the land is free from disputes, seizures, deception, and coercion…".

However, Ms. Nga authorized her son, who was studying in the US, to manage this land and six other properties in District 2. When completing the procedures at the notary office, Ms. Nga forged her son's signature. She then used this authorization document as collateral to borrow 131 billion VND from the bank. Through her connections, the former beauty queen borrowed back the land use right certificate "to make a copy" but instead used it as collateral to borrow money from the bank. The matter was later discovered.

During the investigation, the Supreme People's Procuratorate also received complaints from many banks, companies, and individuals accusing Ms. Nga of fraudulent activities involving nearly 900 billion VND. Since the case falls under the jurisdiction of the Ho Chi Minh City Police, the Supreme People's Procuratorate transferred the entire file to that unit.

Furthermore, authorities also alleged that Ms. Tuyet Nga bribed several officials at the Ministry of Public Security to "escape" prosecution for misappropriating $3.1 million in deposits from business partners. After initiating a criminal case for bribery, due to its complexity, the Investigation Agency of the Supreme People's Procuracy separated it into a different case for further investigation and processing.

In 2009, Ms. Truong Thi Tuyet Nga won the title of Successful Mrs. Vietnam. Three years later, she also won the runner-up title at the Mrs. Vietnam Global pageant in the United States. At the time of her arrest in April 2013, she was the General Director of Vu Anh International General Hospital Co., Ltd.

According to VNE