A Vietnamese real estate tycoon is at the centre of the largest bank fraud in global history, facing a death sentence for embezzling billions of dollars. The 68-year-old lost her appeal against the death sentence, with the court finding no grounds for leniency, BBC reported. She now faces a critical deadline to pay back $9 billion (over Rs 7,600 crore) — 75% of the embezzled amount — to commute her sentence to life imprisonment under Vietnamese law.
The dramatic rise and fall of Truong My Lan have captivated global attention as she races to pay back $9 billion to avoid execution.
The Case That Shook Vietnam
Truong, once the chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group and one of Vietnam’s wealthiest figures, was convicted earlier this year for secretly controlling Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB), the country’s fifth-largest lender, the BBC report said, adding hat she orchestrated a web of fraudulent transactions through shell companies over a decade, misappropriating $27 billion and embezzling $12 billion.
The staggering scale of the fraud has made it the largest in global banking history, as the embezzled amount of $12 billion alone was almost 3% of the GDP of Vietnam in 2022.
The court stated that Truong My Lan has the right to file a clemency petition with the President within seven days of the verdict becoming effective. Should she demonstrate active cooperation and resolve 75% of the damages, her death sentence may be reduced to life imprisonment, state-run news outlet VietnamNet reported.
Vietnam court upholds death penalty for a property tycoon in a multi-billion dollar fraud case.
But court says Truong My Lan’s life could still be spared if she pays back three quarters of the assets she embezzledhttps://t.co/lxdPnGmcK8 pic.twitter.com/X7chhfTBAv
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) December 3, 2024
Who Is Truong My Lan?
Born into a Sino-Vietnamese family in Ho Chi Minh City, Truong began her career selling cosmetics at a market stall, according to the BBC report. After Vietnam’s economic reforms in 1986, she transitioned into real estate, amassing a portfolio of luxury hotels, restaurants, and properties. Her success was a symbol of Vietnam’s emerging capitalist class—until her empire began to unravel.
Truong My Lan emerged as one of the most prominent figures targeted in the Vietnamese government’s anti-corruption initiative, the aggressive “Blazing Furnace” campaign, which has seen various officials and politicians having been accused of corruption.
Between 2012 and 2022, reports said, Truong was accused of unlawfully operating the SCB, orchestrating approximately 2,500 fraudulent loans that led to $27 billion in financial losses for the institution.
The fraud not only shook up Vietnam’s banking sector, but also hit hard the entire economy of the country. Coming at a time Vietnam was making efforts to promote its domestic business potential and reduce dependence on China, it also unsettled foreign investors, according to the media reports.
The Courtroom Drama
In April, Truong was sentenced to death, marking her as one of the few women in Vietnam to face such a penalty for white-collar crime. During her appeal hearings, as reported by the media, she expressed remorse, admitting embarrassment over the damage caused to the state. However, the court rejected her appeal, citing the unprecedented nature of her crimes.
According to reports, Truong’s legal team argued that while her total assets exceed the $9 billion required to commute her sentence to life imprisonment, selling them is complicated. Many of her holdings are in luxury real estate or tied up in business ventures, which take time to liquidate.
Hearing the matter on December 3, the High People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City announced its verdicts for Truong My Lan and 47 co-defendants, according to the VietnamNet report.
While the court partially accepted Truong’s appeal for leniency, reducing her sentence from 20 years to 16 years for the charge of “violating regulations on lending activities in credit institutions”, it upheld the death penalty for the charge of “embezzlement of property” and maintained the 20-year sentence for the charge of “bribery”.
After combining the sentences, the court confirmed the death penalty for Truong My Lan.
A Race To Repay — Truong My Lan’s Hope To Avoid Execution
Vietnamese law offers a glimmer of hope to Truong My Lan — if she can repay 75% of the $12 billion she embezzled, her sentence could be reduced to life imprisonment. Her lawyers claim she is working tirelessly to sell assets and secure loans, but frozen accounts and the death sentence itself complicate negotiations.
Meanwhile, prosecutors argue that her crimes — described as “huge and without precedent” — justify the harshest punishment. The State Bank of Vietnam has spent billions recapitalising SCB to avert a banking crisis, the BBC report said.
“The consequences Lan caused are unprecedented in the history of litigation and the amount of money embezzled is unprecedentedly large and unrecoverable,” VietnamNet quoted the prosecutors as saying. “The defendant’s actions have affected many aspects of society, the financial market, the economy.”
Truong’s case has reignited debates about Vietnam’s use of the death penalty, particularly for financial crimes. The country remains one of the world’s most prolific executioners, though exact figures are state secrets. Human rights groups estimate over 1,000 people are on death row, often waiting years for their sentences to be carried out.