Vietnam auctions off two Birkin bags belonging to an imprisoned businesswoman, generating $500,000 in sales

IN BRIEF Two Birkin bags confiscated Hermès items sold at auction Ho Chi Minh City. Sales: 11.6 billion VND (≈$440,000) for a bag and 2.5 billion VND (≈$95,000) for the other — that is, more than $500,000 in total. Owner : Truong My Lan, property developer convicted in two thousand twenty-four for embezzlement Saigon Commercial Bank. Sentence: initial conviction to the death penalty then converted to life imprisonment after legislative changes. She had requested the return of the bags as family memories. A case that has caused demonstrations and resulted in losses for tens of thousands of savers. Recovery costs: she has already paid out more than 12 trillion VND (≈$455 million) Other goods (luxury cars) are also being auctioned. Sales objective: recover funds linked to fraud.

THE Vietnam put to auction two Birkin bags having belonged to the real estate developer Truong My Lan, convicted in 2024 for embezzlement at the Saigon Commercial BankThe items were sold for a total exceeding $500,000 — one sold for around 11.6 billion dong (≈$440,000), the other for 2.5 billion dong (≈$95,000) — as part of an operation to recover assets related to this vast fraud case which resulted in heavy losses for depositors.

Two luxury handbags from the Vietnamese real estate developer Truong My Lan, convicted of embezzlement, were auctioned off by authorities in Ho Chi Minh City for a total amount exceeding $500,000The sales, organized as part of a broad procedure aimed at recovering assets linked to a major fraud at the Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), have attracted the attention of state media and the international press.

Auction details

At a public auction held in Ho Chi Minh City, a Hermès Birkin bag adorned with white stones was sold for the equivalent of 11.6 billion dong Vietnamese (approximately $440,000), while a second seized copy found a buyer for 2.5 billion dong (approximately $95,000), for a total of approximately $535,000, or “more than $500,000.” These figures were reported by several media outlets, including 24 Hours, Europe1 and the local press Vietnam Today.

Objects and provenance

The two bags sold are Birkin models from the brand Hermessymbols of luxury and high value on the auction market. According to Ms. Truong’s defense, one of the bags had been purchased in Italy and the other had been given to her. After the seizure, the authorities included these accessories among other items put up for sale to compensate the bank’s depositors for their losses.

Legal and financial context

The auction is part of a high-profile case that has shaken Vietnam. Truong My Lan, a former influential leader in the real estate sector, was convicted in 2024 for misappropriating funds from the Saigon Commercial Bank, over which she had a firm grip, according to prosecutors. Initially sentenced to death in one of the country’s biggest corruption cases, her sentence was commuted to life imprisonment following legislative changes to the death penalty for certain offenses.

Refunds and repairs

Authorities have stated that Ms. Truong has been ordered to compensate victims and has already paid a substantial sum to bondholders; the amount cited by the government exceeds 12 trillion dong (approximately $455 million). The sale of Birkin bags is part of a series of asset sales intended to replenish funds lost by tens of thousands of SCB depositors, who had seen their savings disappear in the affair.

Reactions and media coverage

The affair sent shockwaves through the country, sparking rare protests in the socialist republic and fueling a broad public debate on corruption and the responsibility of economic elites. The auctions of luxury goods, such as these Birkin bags, received extensive coverage in the national and international press, including Press Titles And BFM TV.

Public perception

For a population where some lost everything in the financial collapse linked to SCB, the sale of luxury goods belonging to one of the main figures responsible is seen as a symbolic gesture of recovering misappropriated assets. However, several observers believe that these sales, while high-profile, will not be enough to cover all the losses suffered by the investors.

Seized assets and next steps

Besides the two Birkin bags, other assets belonging to Ms. Truong still need to be liquidated. The government has scheduled the auction of three luxury vehicles — a Mercedes-Maybach, a BMW and one Lexus — in order to increase the sums recovered for the benefit of creditors and victims of fraud. These procedures are part of a broader recovery operation initiated by the State.

Procedure and transparency

The authorities assure that the sales are conducted according to regulations and in the presence of experts tasked with assessing the value of the goods. Nevertheless, the management of the recovered funds and their redistribution to the victims remain points of scrutiny by the public and the press, who will closely follow the upcoming sales and the use of the proceeds.

Auction of two Birkin bags confiscated in Vietnam: frequently asked questions