Vietnam court upholds tycoon’s death sentence for $12bn bank fraud

Truong My Lan’s life could still be spared if she pays back three-quarters of the assets she embezzled.

Published On 3 Dec 2024

A Vietnamese court has rejected a real estate tycoon’s appeal, upholding the death sentence handed down for the embezzlement of $12bn.

The court in Ho Chi Minh City ruled against Truong My Lan’s appeal in the case, which has raised concerns over the impact on the country’s economy due to the huge sums involved.

The High People’s Court determined there was no basis to reduce Lan’s death sentence, local media reported. However, it also said that the sentence could be commuted to life imprisonment should she repay three-quarters of the money.

“The consequences Lan caused are unprecedented in the history of litigation and the amount of money embezzled is unprecedentedly large and unrecoverable,” the prosecution said at the appeal hearing, according to state-run online newspaper VietnamNet.

“The defendant’s actions have affected many aspects of society, the financial market, the economy.”

Lan, the chairwoman of real estate developer Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, was sentenced to death in April for her role in what was Vietnam’s biggest financial fraud case on record.