Vietnam Court Upholds Tycoon's Death Sentence in $12B Fraud

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Facts

  • Vietnamese real estate tycoon Truong My Lan's appeal against her death sentence for her role in Vietnam's largest ever financial fraud case was rejected by the High People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday.[1][2]
  • The 68-year-old chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group was found guilty in April of embezzling $12.3B through secret control of Saigon Commercial Bank over a decade, allegedly through the use of a network of shell companies.[3][4]
  • The fraud reportedly caused total damages of approximately $27B, affected thousands of investors, and required a $24B rescue of Saigon by Vietnam's central bank through "special loans."[5][6]
  • Under Vietnamese law, Lan could have her sentence commuted to life imprisonment if she returns 75% of the embezzled funds, about $9B, or if she turns 75 before the execution is carried out.[3][7]
  • In addition to the death sentence, Lan received a separate life sentence in October for money laundering and illegal cross-border money transfers.[1][5]
  • The case is part of Vietnam's anti-corruption campaign — known as "Blazing Furnace" and headed by former-Communist Party Secretary-General Nguyen Phu Trong — which has targeted numerous business executives and state officials.[1][3]

Sources: [1]CNN, [2]Bloomberg, [3]The Edge Malaysia, [4]BBC News, [5]Firstpost, [6]ABC and [7]CNA.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by VN Express International and South China Morning Post. Lan's actions severely impacted Vietnam's financial market and economy, and affected many aspects of society, with damages amounting to 6% of the country's GDP. The consequences of this fraud are unprecedented and unrecoverable, justifying the maximum penalty unless Lan is able to return a sizeable portion of the assets she stole.
  • Narrative B, as provided by International and Comparative Law Review. While Lan's crimes are indefensible, the imposition of a death penalty remains archaic and unjustified. Despite numerous guilty verdicts in connection to the case, no other individual has been sentenced to death. This likely makes Lan's penalty an act of symbolism rather than justice, and Vietnam should think twice about the precedent this sets for punishing white collar crimes.