One of them, a size 30 in white, received four bids in an auction on Thursday, and went under the hammer at VND2.54 billion, or 8.5% up from the reserve price.
The other, a size 25 with white stones on the clasp and trim, received 119 bids at another auction before being sold for VND11.7 billion, 582% the reserve price.
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A size 25 Hermes bag used to belong to property tycoon Truong My Lan. Photo courtesy of Ho Chi Minh City Asset Auction Service Center |
The Ho Chi Minh City Asset Auction Service Center, which conducted the auctions, has not revealed the identity of the buyers. All bidders had to put down a deposit of 20% of the reserve price.
Previous attempts to auction other assets owned by Lan, including yachts and boats, failed to attract buyers, forcing organizers to repeatedly lower the reserve prices.
Lan told the court in September 2024 that she had bought one of the bags in Italy and the other was a gift from a Malaysian billionaire.
“The value is insignificant compared to my total assets, but I ask for them to be returned as keepsakes for my descendants.”
Similar bags have been used by western celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez and Victoria Beckham.
In 2024, Lan and her accomplices were found guilty of embezzling Saigon Commercial Bank and causing it a loss of VND677 trillion (US$27 billion) over the course of a decade.
She received the death sentence, which was upheld by an appeals court last year. Following an investigation into Lan’s company, Van Thinh Phat, over 1,200 properties and other assets directly linked to her were seized.
The Reverie Saigon yacht has been put up for auction several times, but there has been no bidder, and it is now available for VND42.5 billion, down 18% from the original reserve price.
