December 3rd 2024.
A 67-year-old woman, Truong My Lan, sat in a court in Ho Chi Minh City on November 4, 2024, with a heavy burden on her shoulders. She is a property tycoon in Vietnam, known for her role as the chair of real estate developer Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group. However, she is now facing a massive financial fraud case, the biggest in the country's history, that could cost her life.
After a month-long trial in April, Lan was found guilty of embezzlement, bribery, and violations of banking rules. She had been secretly controlling Saigon Commercial Bank for over 10 years, using a web of shell companies to take out loans and cash. The total amount involved in this fraud is a staggering £34.5 billion, with £21 billion misappropriated and the rest believed to have been embezzled.
Lan's actions have caused significant consequences, affecting various aspects of society, the financial market, and the economy. The court had originally sentenced her to death, but if she is able to return three-quarters of the embezzled money while on death row, her sentence could potentially be commuted to life imprisonment.
Despite her appeal, Lan lost her case and the court upheld her death sentence. She has now become one of the few women in Vietnam to be sentenced to death for a white collar crime. According to a prosecutor quoted in the state-run newspaper VietnamNet, this case is unprecedented, both in terms of its consequences and the amount of money involved.
Lan's lawyer argued for mitigating circumstances, such as her admission of guilt, remorse, and partial repayment of the embezzled money. However, the prosecutors deemed this insufficient, and the court agreed. Lan still has the right to request a review under Vietnam's cassation or retrial procedures, but for now, her fate remains uncertain.
This all began in 2022 when Lan's arrest sparked a run on Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank, one of the country's largest private banks and at the center of the fraud. Lan was the majority owner of the bank through her proxies. In addition to the death sentence, she received a life sentence in a separate trial for obtaining property by fraud, money laundering, and illegal cross-border money transfers.
In conclusion, Truong My Lan's actions have had far-reaching consequences, bringing her to the brink of losing her life. She now awaits her fate while her case continues to make headlines in Vietnam.
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