HANOI (AFP) – The appeal of a Vietnamese property tycoon convicted of money laundering will begin next week, state media said, three months after losing her appeal against the death penalty in a separate case.
Property developer Truong My Lan was found guilty of swindling money from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) in April 2024 and sentenced to death for fraud totalling USD27 billion.
Lan appealed that verdict, and the court determined there was no basis to reduce her sentence, but said she could still escape the death penalty if she returned three quarters of the stolen assets.
Now, she is appealing the verdict from a second trial in October, in which she was sentenced to life in prison for three crimes.
The appeal is scheduled to begin tomorrow and last until April 21, and Lan will be defended by eight lawyers, state-run news site VNExpress said Saturday.
The 68-year-old was found guilty of laundering USD17.7 billion and illegal cross-border trafficking of USD4.5 billion.
She was also found guilty of bond fraud to the tune of USD1.2 billion.
Twenty-seven others will also appeal their sentences, state media said.
During her first trial in April, Lan was found guilty of embezzling USD12.5 billion, but prosecutors said the total damages caused by the scam amounted to USD27 billion – equivalent to around six per cent of the country’s 2023 gross domestic product.
Lan owned just five per cent of shares in SCB on paper, but at her trial, the court concluded that she effectively controlled more than 90 per cent through family, friends and staff. Tens of thousands of people who had invested their savings in the bank lost money, shocking the communist nation and prompting rare protests from the victims.
