Vietnam's 68-Year-Old Tycoon Must Repay $9 Billion to Avoid Execution as Death Sentence Upheld

Dec 3, 2024, 07:29 AM

On Tuesday, a Vietnamese court upheld the death sentence for 68-year-old real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, one of Vietnam's wealthiest women, convicted of masterminding a multi-billion-dollar fraud, the largest in the country's history. The Supreme People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City rejected her appeal against convictions for embezzlement and bribery. She was found guilty of embezzling $12 billion and orchestrating a $1.2 billion bond fraud, causing severe financial losses to thousands of investors. The court stated that the damages caused were enormous and had extremely serious consequences. Under Vietnamese law, her life could still be spared if she repays 75% of the assets she embezzled, amounting to approximately $9 billion, which would commute her sentence to life imprisonment.