Luxury Handbags Auctioned from Jailed Vietnamese Businesswoman
Two luxury handbags confiscated from imprisoned Vietnamese businesswoman Truong My Lan were sold for more than $535,000 (£399,000) at a government auction.
Both bags found new owners within just 30 minutes of bidding. One of the white Hermès Birkin bags alone sold for $440,144, while the other fetched $94,858.
Hermès's exclusive Birkin bags are known to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Background on Truong My Lan's Conviction
Truong My Lan is currently serving a life sentence for embezzlement from a major Vietnamese bank and has been ordered to return $27 billion in reparations.
In April 2024, she was sentenced to death after a court found that she had secretly controlled Saigon Commercial Bank, Vietnam's fifth-largest lender. Over more than a decade, she took out loans and cash through a network of shell companies, totaling $44 billion.
Her death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in June 2024, following Vietnam's abolition of the death penalty for various crimes.
Truong My Lan's Attempt to Retain the Bags
During her trial, Truong My Lan sought to keep her two Hermès bags, stating that she purchased one in Italy and received the other as a gift from a Malaysian businessman. She expressed her desire to leave the bags as "keepsakes" for her children and grandchildren.
Details of the Auction and Bag Appraisal
In January, Ho Chi Minh City's Civil Judgment Enforcement Agency announced it was seeking experts to appraise the value of two crocodile skin Hermès Birkin bags seized from Truong My Lan.
The bags were part of 1,200 seized assets sold at the Ho Chi Minh City Asset Auction Service Center on Monday, according to local media reports.
The bag that sold for the lower price was a size 30. The more expensive bag, a size 25, featured rhinestones on the clasp and trim and sold for nearly seven times its starting bid.
Expert Insights on Birkin Bag Value
Nicholas Parnell, founder of Agency Parnell, a wholesale luxury fashion agency, noted that the price of Birkin bags has been increasing year-on-year for a long time.
"It is one of the most sought-after bags and that has been achieved primarily by Hermes restricting access to people," he said.
Parnell described the handbags as "pieces of art" and "extremely rare," adding that many people consider them investments.
"It becomes something you cherish and hold on to," he said.
"The price is quite limitless in a way because there are so many special editions."
Record-Breaking Sales and Market Context
Auction house Sotheby's advertises Birkin bags for tens of thousands of dollars each.
In July 2025, Sotheby's Paris sold the original Birkin bag for €8.6 million (£7.4 million; $10.1 million), making it the most valuable handbag ever sold at auction at that time.
