Vietnamese real estate tycoon sentenced to death for fraud

A verdict has been reached in the trial of Truong My Lan, owner of Van Thinh Phat, one of Vietnam’s largest real estate companies, who was charged with financial fraud.

The 67-year-old Lan was sentenced to death for embezzlement, bribery, and violating banking regulations during a hearing at a court in Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam.

It was determined that Lan, who was found to have obtained illicit loans from the Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank through intermediaries she bribed, had acquired $12.5 billion in illegal gains between 2012 and 2022. The trial of Lan, which began last month, was recorded as the largest financial fraud case in the history of Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Ten prosecutors and approximately 200 lawyers participated in the trial, in which 2,700 people were called to testify.

It is known that communist-ruled Vietnam applies the death penalty for 22 crimes, including murder, armed robbery, drug trafficking, rape, child sexual abuse, corruption, fraud, and embezzlement. The case in which Lan was sentenced to death is considered to hold symbolic importance as part of the anti-corruption campaign led by the Communist Party of Vietnam.

News Source: İHA