Truong My Lan, a Vietnamese real estate tycoon, has been sentenced by a criminal court in Vietnam to death on charges of embezzlement, bribery, and bank violation charges. This trial was a part of an agenda to stomp out corruption by the nation’s Communist leading party, Nguyen Phu Trong. Lan took out 25 loans amounting to 44 billion dollars, 3% of the country’s GDP, from Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank which she illegally controlled. 

State media outlet VnExpress stated “not only violate the property management rights of individuals and organizations but also push SCB (Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank) into a state of special control; eroding people’s trust in the leadership of the Party and State”. Her arrest is just one of many with prosecutors arresting multiple people, including family members that belonged to her vast criminal enterprise. 

She originally pleaded not guilty to the charges but was ultimately found guilty. Before sentencing, her lawyers presented some mitigating factors, including her being a first time offender and that fact that she participated in some charity work. However these did not sway the court and she was found guilty. Included in the verdict, was a requirement for her to return 27 billion dollars. Prosecutors hope that the death penalty verdict will encourage her to return that money to the victims. Lan’s legal team is expected to appeal the verdict but the outcome does not seem to be positive. Vietnam has a history of using the death penalty, specifically lethal injection, to punish those found guilty of both violent and white collar crime.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68778636

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/11/business/truong-my-lan-vietnam-fraud-death-sentence/index.html

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/vietnam-tycoon-sentenced-death-12-billion-fraud-case-state-media-reports-2024-04-11/#:~:text=HANOI%2C%20April%2011%20(Reuters),on%20record%2C%20state%20media%20said.