Vietnamese woman tycoon appeals death sentence in $27 billion fraud case
By Bryan Ke
A disgraced Vietnamese property tycoon is appealing her death sentence in a $27 billion corruption case, the biggest in the country’s history. Truong My Lan, 68, was sentenced to death for swindling funds from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) in April, as well as life imprisonment for financial fraud charges on Oct. 17.
- What she’s saying: In a handwritten letter submitted to a court in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday, Lan said the death sentence was “too severe and harsh” and asked the court to consider a more “lenient and humane approach.” She also lamented sacrificing much of her own and her family’s happiness for her passion for business and to “build and contribute” to world-class projects for Vietnam. “Every night I still feel tormented and wonder why my family and I are in this situation,” she noted. Le Hang, an 84-year-old victim of Lan who lost over $500,000 through fraud, told AFP that she does not want Lan to die, as the disgraced property tycoon “must live to fix what she has done and repay people like me.”
- Catch up: Lan is a prominent businesswoman who headed a real estate company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls. She was accused of illegally withdrawing money from SCB — which she largely owned through her proxies — and using thousands of domestic and international “ghost companies” to give herself and her allies loans through the bank between 2012 and 2022, which resulted in losses amounting to $27 billion. She was arrested in 2022. Additionally, 85 co-conspirators were arrested, tried and found guilty. Four of those were given life sentences, while the rest received prison sentences of up to 20 years.
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