She can only avoid death penalty if she pays 8.5 billion
Vietnamese real estate magnate Truong My Lan (68) was sentenced to death on appeal in a fraud case on Tuesday.
She allegedly embezzled as much as 25 billion dollars. She was sentenced to death, but there is still a loophole. Or rather: a straw she can clutch at. The judges indicated that the death sentence could be commuted to life in prison if she repaid three quarters of the amount embezzled. Since not all her fraud could be proven, it comes to some 8.5 billion dollars she would have to pay back to exchange the death penalty for a life behind bars.
‘I am only thinking of repaying my debt to Vietnam's central bank and the people,’ 68-year-old Truong My Lan said in court on Tuesday.
The now 68-year-old real estate magnate was arrested in 2022 and charged with bribing officials and violating bank loan rules, among other things. For over a decade, with fraudulent bonds through Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), she stole billions of dollars.
(FVDV for Tagtik/Source: Reuters/Illustration picture: Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash)