Vietnamese real estate tycoon given a death sentence for the alleged fraud case of $12 Billion

Truong My Lan at her trial in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Credit...EPA, via Shutterstock

Truong My Lan, a Vietnamese real estate tycoon, was sentenced to death on Thursday for her role in a financial fraud case, in a major display of the ruling Communist Party’s resolve to crack down on corruption, the report via New York Times news media.

A court in Ho Chi Minh City sentenced Ms. Lan, who was arrested in 2022 and faced charges of bribing government officials, violating banking regulations and embezzling more than $12 billion from one of Vietnam’s largest banks.

The trial for Ms. Lan, who was the chairwoman of the real estate developer Van Thinh Phat Group, was part of the government’s campaign against corruption. The leader of Vietnam’s Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, has sought for years to stamp out corruption as the nation emerges as a major manufacturing hub and as one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies.

Ms. Lan, 67, who is eligible to appeal the verdict within 15 days under Vietnam’s criminal code, has denied the charges throughout the court proceedings. In Vietnam, a range of offences carry the death penalty, including violent crimes, economic crimes, drug trafficking and sexual abuse.

The main charges against Ms Lan involved her embezzling money from Saigon Commercial Bank between 2018 and 2022, for which a panel of judges sentenced her to death. But the court also sentenced her to 20 years in prison for each of the other two charges, bribery and banking law violation.

Prosecutors said that the total financial damages in her case amounted to $20 billion, or about 5 per cent of Vietnam’s gross domestic product, according to the state news media, Lan’s lawyer declined to comment.

越南房地產大亨涉嫌詐欺120億美元案被判死刑

胡志明市一家法院對蘭女士進行了判刑，蘭女士於 2022 年被捕，並面臨賄賂政府官員、違反銀行業法規以及從越南最大銀行之一挪用超過 120 億美元的指控。

蘭女士是房地產開發商萬盛發集團(Van Thinh Phat Group)的董事長，對蘭女士的審判是政府反腐敗運動的一部分。 隨著越南成為主要製造業中心和亞洲成長最快的經濟體之一，越南共產黨領導人阮富仲多年來致力於消除腐敗。

67 歲的蘭女士根據越南刑法有權在 15 天內對判決提出上訴，但她在整個法庭訴訟過程中否認了這些指控。 在越南，一系列犯罪行為可判處死刑，包括暴力犯罪、經濟犯罪、販毒和性虐待。

對蘭女士的主要指控涉及她在2018年至2022年期間挪用西貢商業銀行的資金，法官小組因此判處她死刑。 但法院也因賄賂和違反銀行法這兩項罪名分別判處她 20 年有期徒刑。

根據官方新聞媒體報道，檢察官表示，她的案件造成的經濟損失總額達 200 億美元，約佔越南國內生產毛額的 5%。 蘭女士的律師拒絕置評。