Vietnam: Property businessman sentenced to death in billions of rupees fraud case, accused of defrauding cash from bank

Vietnamese property magnate Truong My Lan was sentenced to death on Thursday in a billion-dollar fraud case. Truong Mai Lan, chairwoman of prominent developer firm Van Thinh Phat, was accused of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) for more than a decade.

In one of the largest fraud cases in the nation, which involved the embezzlement of $12.5 billion, Truong My Lan and numerous other co-defendants received sentences. After a five-week trial, Lan and 85 other defendants were found guilty and given sentences in Ho Chi Minh City. Former SCB officials, government officials, and central bankers are on the list of co-accused individuals.

They face charges of embezzlement, power abuse, bribery, and breaking banking laws. Lan, however, refuted the claims and blamed subordinates. Lan's prosecution requested the death penalty, which is uncommon in these kinds of situations. She was one of 85 persons detained in Vietnam as part of a widespread anti-corruption drive that targeted influential members of the government and business community.

Lan, in his final statement in court last week, hinted at suicidal thoughts. "Because of my frustration, I thought about death," she said, according to state media. "I am so angry that I was so stupid to get involved in this very terrible business environment—the banking sector," she said. About which I have very little knowledge.

Following his arrest in October 2022, hundreds of people began protesting in the capital Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. A heavy police presence was seen outside the State Bank of Vietnam in Hanoi on Wednesday, a location that has been the centre of protests in the past. Authorities have identified nearly 42,000 individuals affected by the scam, which sent shockwaves across the Southeast Asian nation.