Vietnamese Property Tycoon Faces £7 Billion Haul to Save Her Life
Truong My Lan, the chair of real estate developer Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, is fighting for her life after being found guilty of embezzlement, bribery, and violations of banking rules. The 67-year-old was convicted following a month-long trial in April and is required to come up with over £7 billion to save her life.
Lan was the mastermind behind the largest financial fraud case on record, secretly controlling Saigon Commercial Bank, Vietnam’s fifth-largest lender, over more than 10 years. The fraud amounts to a staggering £34.5 billion, with £21 billion misappropriated and the rest embezzled.
If Lan can return at least three-quarters of the money she embezzled, her death sentence could be reduced to life imprisonment. However, a prosecutor argued that the consequences of her crimes are “unprecedented,” affecting many aspects of society, the financial market, and the economy.
Lan’s appeal against her conviction was rejected, making her one of the few women in Vietnam to be sentenced to death for a white-collar crime. Her lawyer cited mitigating circumstances, including her admission of guilt, remorse, and partial repayment of the embezzled funds. However, prosecutors deemed these insufficient to overturn the verdict.
Lan still has the right to request a review or retrial under Vietnam’s cassation or retrial procedures. The case has sent shockwaves through Vietnam, with her arrest in 2022 prompting a run on one of the country’s largest private banks, Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank.
