A Vietnamese court upheld on Tuesday a death sentence for real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, who was convicted of embezzling billions of dollars in the country’s biggest fraud case that has highlighted the extent of an anti-corruption campaign.
The court in Ho Chi Minh City ruled that there was no basis to commute Lan’s death sentence and rejected her appeal, VN Express reported. The court said the sentence could be reduced to life in prison if she reimbursed three-quarters of the funds she was convicted of embezzling.
The prosecution “continued to request the People’s Court to sentence her to death for the crime of embezzlement of property,” said the media outlet.
The panel of judges considered that Lan’s actions were particularly serious in that she had negatively affected banking operations, disrupted security and order, caused public confusion and a loss of public trust, VN Express added.
Lan, 68, was sentenced to death in April for masterminding the embezzlement of billions of dollars from Saigon Commercial Bank, or SCB. She was also sentenced at that time to 40 years in prison for bribery and violating bank regulations.
At the end of a second trial in October, she was sentenced to life in prison for fraudulent property appropriation, 12 years for laundering more than US$18 billion, and eight years for illegally transferring $1.5 billion out of the country and receiving $3 billion from abroad.
RELATED STORIES
Vietnamese tycoon launches appeal against death sentence
Life sentence for Vietnamese tycoon already facing death penalty
Vietnamese executive on trial for second time in country’s biggest fraud case
Over the course of the two trials the court heard that Lan had ordered senior staff at property developer Van Thinh Phat, SCB and Tan Viet Securities to issue more than 300 million bonds, allowing her to appropriate $1.2 billion from nearly 36,000 investors.
The other defendants included her husband Eric Chu, who received a nine-year sentence, and her niece Truong Hue Van, who received a 17-year prison term.
Vietnam has been cracking down on corruption in the ruling Communist Party and its dealings with key sectors such as property and healthcare. The campaign, known as the “blazing furnace,” was spearheaded by former party general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and has been sustained by his successor To Lam.
Vietnam applies the death penalty for accepting bribes worth an equivalent of $42,500 or accepting bribes that cause property damage over $212,500, according to the 2015 Criminal Law. However, the law states that if the offender returns at least three-quarters of the money the death penalty will be commuted.
Edited by Taejun Kang.