EPATruong My Lan between officers during the trial
NOS Nieuws•gisteren, 22:39
Vietnamese real estate tycoon Truong My Lan has been sentenced to death for Vietnam’s biggest ever fraud case. State media report this. According to the court, 67-year-old Lan is guilty of embezzlement, bribery and fraud worth 304 trillion dong, almost 12 billion euros. That is about 3 percent of Vietnam’s national income.
According to the judge, Lan had pocketed billions from the Saigon Commercial Bank. She used the bank to provide loans to thousands of fake companies in Vietnam and abroad. Friendly business associates also received loans from the bank. The method led to a loss of billions for the bank.
She also bribed government officials and violated banking regulations. In addition to the death penalty, she was also sentenced to twenty years in prison twice. According to her lawyer, she will appeal against the sentence.
Communist Party
According to the Vietnamese judge, Lan’s actions not only led to violations of the property rights of Vietnamese people, but “also undermined Vietnam’s confidence in the leadership of the Communist Party and the state.” The party has had anti-corruption as a spearhead for years. The trial required 2,400 people to testify.
Local media write that co-suspects have also been punished. The sentences range from a short suspended prison sentence to life in prison.
Huge consequences
Lan’s fraud case led to an economic blow to Vietnam. After the arrest, account holders of the Saigon Commercial Bank withdrew their money en masse, fearing that the money would disappear. This led to the bank having to be nationalized. Vietnamese companies also lost billions of euros in market value in a short time due to unrest among investors. They wondered whether similar practices were happening at other Vietnamese companies.
Lan’s company developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping centers, among other things. The Vietnamese pawnbroker was arrested in 2022. In Vietnam, the usual method of execution is lethal injection.
2024-04-11 20:39:56
#Vietnamese #real #estate #tycoon #executed #massive #fraud
