Vietnam court upholds death sentence for property tycoon

A Vietnamese court upheld the death penalty Tuesday for a property tycoon in a multibillion-dollar fraud case -- but said her life could still be spared if she paid back three quarters of the assets she embezzled.

Property developer Truong My Lan, 68, was convicted this year of swindling money from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) -- which prosecutors said she controlled -- and sentenced to death for fraud totaling $27 billion.

She appealed the verdict in a month-long trial, but on Tuesday the court in Ho Chi Minh City determined that there was "no basis" to reduce her sentence.

However, there is still a chance for Lan to escape the death penalty.

The court said Tuesday that if she returns three quarters of the stolen assets, her sentence could be reduced to life imprisonment.

Her husband Eric Chu Nap Kee, a Hong Kong billionaire, had his sentence reduced from nine years in prison to seven.

Tens of thousands of people who invested their savings in SCB lost money, shocking the communist nation and prompting rare protests from the victims.

Lan, who founded real estate development group Van Thinh Phat, earlier told the court that "the quickest way" to repay the stolen funds would be "to liquidate SCB, and sell our assets to repay SBV (State Bank of Vietnam) and the people".

"I feel pained due to the waste of national resources," Lan said last week, adding she felt "very embarrassed to be charged with this crime".

Her defense team had argued that she already paid back the money needed to be eligible for a sentence reduction.

Lan has turned over more than 600 family properties to the court, it acknowledged -- but it was unclear how much money they were worth.

Lan's lawyer told AFP on Tuesday that in any case, it would likely be years before Lan faces execution, which is carried out by lethal injection in Vietnam.

- Harbor, luxury homes -

Lan owned just five percent of shares in SCB on paper, but at her trial, the court concluded that she effectively controlled more than 90 percent through family, friends and staff.

In April, a former chief inspector of the State Bank was given life in prison for accepting a five-million-dollar bribe to overlook financial problems at SCB. The court upheld the sentence on Tuesday.

The bank said in April that it pumped funds into SCB to stabilize it, without revealing how much.

Among the assets that Lan and Van Thinh Phat own are a shopping mall, a harbor and luxurious housing complexes in business hub Ho Chi Minh City.

During her first trial in April, Lan was found guilty of embezzling $12.5 billion, but prosecutors said the total damages caused by the scam amounted to $27 billion -- equivalent to around six percent of the country's 2023 GDP.

Lan and dozens of defendants, including senior central bank officials, were arrested as part of a national corruption crackdown dubbed the "burning furnace" that has swept up numerous officials and members of Vietnam's business elite.

Aside from Lan, a total of 47 other defendants requested reduced sentences at the appeal.

Last month, Lan was convicted of money laundering and jailed for life in a separate case.