Vietnam Property Tycoon Loses Appeal Against Death Penalty In $12.5 Billion Fraud Case

Topline

A court in Vietnam upheld the death sentence handed to property tycoon Truong My Lan earlier this year in the country’s largest-ever financial fraud case, in a high-profile case that has garnered international attention over the unusually severe punishment amid a major anti-corruption drive by the country’s government.

Vietnamese property tycoon Truong My Lan looks on at a court in Ho Chi Minh City.

AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

According to state media outlet Thanh Nien, the High People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City rejected Lan’s appeal for a reduced sentence on Tuesday, as the judge pointed to the huge financial loss from the case and said there was “no basis to reduce the penalty.”

The 68-year-old real estate mogul is convicted of embezzlement for her role in the country’s largest fraud case, amounting to around $12.5 billion.

Aside from the death penalty, Lan has been handed two 20-year prison sentences for engaging in bribery and violation of lending regulations and she has been ordered to

The tycoon’s lawyers had appealed for clemency, arguing she had paid back the money—but the judge dismissed this by pointing out that there were legal issues with the properties seized from her and their values could not be assessed.

Under Vietnamese law, Lan can get her sentence commuted to life imprisonment if she can pay back roughly three-fourths of the embezzled amount—estimated to be around $11 billion (VND 280,000 billion)—local outlet VN Express reported.

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Key Background

In April, the court found that Lan had secretly gained control of Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank, Vietnam’s fifth-biggest lender, in 2011 and used her position to siphon out funds through multiple shell companies. Prosecutors argued Lan’s actions cost the bank $27 billion. Lan’s case has garnered attention for the usually severe punishment handed down to her for a white-collar crime in the country. But her case is part of a wider anti-corruption campaign in Vietnam known as “Blazing Furnace,” launched by Nguyen Phu Trong, the former General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, in 2016. To Lam, Trong’s successor, who took office this year, has promised to “resolutely” continue the campaign. The anti-corruption drive has touched several high-profile political leaders, including the country’s former transport minister, health minister and the country’s former president.

What To Watch For

Lan’s lawyer said the real-estate tycoon is working to arrange the money she needs to avoid the death penalty, but cashing her assets—some of which has been frozen by the government—has been challenging. According to the BBC, Lan has reached out to friends to help her raise the money.