Vietnamese real estate tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced to death by a court in Ho Chi Minh City for her role in her country’s largest financial fraud case ever.
According to combined media reports, the 67-year-old Lan was the chairwoman of the real estate company Van Thinh Phat when she was formally charged with a $12.5 billion fraud. Lan illegally controlled Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank between 2012 and 2022 and allowed 2,500 loans that resulted in losses of $27 billion to the bank.
The level of her fraud equaled nearly 3% of the country’s 2022 GDP. In the sentencing, the court asked her to compensate the bank $26.9 million.
As for the severity of her sentence, the court stated Lan’s actions “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.”
Lan’s conviction and sentencing is part of anti-corruption campaign by Communist Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong. More than 4,400 people have been indicted during Vietnam’s corruption crackdown began in 2021 – including luxury property tycoon Do Anh Dung, head of the Tan Hoang Minh group, who was sentenced to eight years in prison last month for scamming thousands of investors in a $355 million bond scam.
Photo: Truong My Lan, courtesy of Van Thinh Phat
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That level of punishment should happen in the States!
L Willley, Yes! We could have started with Wells Fargo and Bank of America execs in 2008.