Truong My Lan, a Vietnamese businesswoman, was sentenced to death yesterday by the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City in one of the country’s largest-ever corruption cases. She will also be forced to pay restitution of 673.8 trillion dong ($29.6 billion USD) to a bank, international media reported.
Her trial commenced last month and was expected to last until April 29. However, it ended unexpectedly yesterday with the verdict of capital punishment.
The 68-year-old leader of real estate company Van Thinh Phat (VTP) was accused of siphoning $12.54 billion from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) by orchestrating a complex scheme involving thousands of ghost companies.
She has been convicted of bribery, banking violations, and embezzlement. The court ordered her to pay back 673.8 trillion dong ($29.6 billion USD) to SCB.
Truong My Lan was convicted of defrauding 42,000 people between 2012 and 2022 via SCB bonds, with the complicity of numerous Vietnamese officials.
The prosecution suggested on Thursday that the total damages caused by the scam currently amount to $27 billion USD, equivalent to 6% of the country’s entire GDP in 2023.
When uncovered, the embezzlement operation implicated over 80 accomplices, including her family members. Do Thi Nhan, an official at the State Bank of Vietnam, received a life sentence for accepting bribes from Lan. Her husband, Erik Chu Nap-Kee, received a nine-year prison term, while her niece, Truong Hue Van, was sentenced to seventeen years.
The court rationalized the death penalty by asserting that the accused’s actions not only violated individual property rights but also placed SCB in a state of crisis.