Hermès bags once owned by tycoon Truong My Lan fetch over $539,000 at auction in Vietnam

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Asset Auction Service Center, both handbags were successfully auctioned online on Thursday.

A Hermès size 30 albino handbag, which had a starting price of over VND2.3 billion ($87,300), was sold after four rounds of bidding for more than VND2.54 billion ($96,400).

The second item, a Hermès size 25 albino handbag with white diamonds on its lock and trim, triggered intense bidding and eventually fetched more than VND11.67 billion ($442,900) after 119 bids, up from a starting price of VND1.77 billion ($67,170).

Together, the two handbags brought in approximately $539,300 in auction proceeds.

The bags were among the assets seized from Lan, chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group, as part of enforcement proceedings following her conviction.

In late 2024, the High People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City upheld the death sentence previously handed down by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court on Lan, 70, for embezzling VND304 trillion ($11.5 billion) from Saigon Commercial Bank over a decade.

The court also determined that her actions caused total losses of VND677 trillion ($25.7 billion) to the bank and ordered her to compensate for the damage.

In addition, she was ordered to pay more than VND30 trillion ($1.14 billion) in compensation to victims and related parties in connection with illegal bond issuance activities.

Lan had previously asked authorities on multiple occasions during court proceedings to return the two Hermès handbags, saying she wanted to preserve them as family heirlooms for her children and grandchildren.

“When I was arrested, two albino Hermès handbags were seized from me. I bought one in Italy, while the other was a gift from a Malaysian businessman,” Lan said during one of her trials.

Authorities rejected the request, and the handbags remained among the assets held to support the enforcement of court rulings.