S Korean real estate developer eyes three projects owned by convicted Vietnamese tycoon

APM Luxe, a South Korean real estate firm, is keen to invest in three property projects owned by convicted tycoon Truong My Lan, chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group, lawyers for the latter disclosed at an ongoing hearing at the Appeals Court in Ho Chi Minh City.

Among the three projects is the VND11 trillion ($432.8 million), 31.5-hectare Nha Rong-Khanh Hoi housing complex in District 4, HCMC.

The second one is the $6-billion Mui Den Do urban area spanning 118 ha in District 7, HCMC. This is designed to have a park, a shopping mall, offices, hotels, a convention and exhibition center, and a high-rise residential building.

The third one is the 3.5-ha Capital Place building at No. 29, Lieu Giai street, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi.

APM Luxe has urged the HCMC court to review its proposal and support it in talks for potential acquisition or investment in the three projects.

Seoul-headquartered APM Luxe, established in 2011, has chairman Song See Yong as its legal representative.

The company currently has no projects in Vietnam, but it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Hanoi People’s Committee in 2018 to explore opportunities to develop a trade center in the city.

Besides APM Luxe, lawyers for Truong My Lan said that Malaysian millionaire Vincent Tan has evinced investment interest in the Sterling Residence, also known as the 6A residential project, in Binh Chanh district, HCMC.

If investment procedures are completed, Lan could secure VND20 trillion ($787 million) to provide compensation, her lawyers informed the court.

Last month, Truong My Lan was sentenced to life imprisonment for fraudulent appropriation of property, 12 years for money laundering and eight years for illegally transporting currency across the border.

Earlier, in April, she was sentenced to death in the first phase of the Van Thinh Phat case for three crimes: giving bribes, violating lending regulations in the operations of credit institutions and asset embezzlement.

This judgment is yet to come into force as Lan and other defendants in the case have appealed their sentences.