The court in Vietnam upheld a death sentence for real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, in a $12 billion fraud case involving embezzlement and bribery. Despite her appeal being rejected, Lan may have her sentence commuted to life imprisonment if she returns three-quarters of the embezzled money while on death row. She is one of many business executives and state officials jailed in Vietnam’s anti-graft campaign known as “Blazing Furnace.” Prosecutors argue that Lan’s actions have had unprecedented negative effects on society, the financial market, and the economy. Her lawyer cited factors like admitting guilt and paying back part of the embezzled money as mitigating circumstances, but prosecutors deemed this insufficient. Lan still has the option to request a review under Vietnam’s legal procedures. Lan’s arrest led to a bank run on one of the country’s largest private banks, SCB, owned by Lan through her proxies. Vietnam’s central bank reportedly provided $24 billion in “special loans” to SCB. In addition to the death sentence, Lan was also sentenced to life in a separate trial for fraud, money laundering, and illegal money transfers.
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