A Vietnamese property tycoon sentenced to loss of life for multi-billion-dollar fraud begged a court docket to spare her life Tuesday, saying she was making an attempt to repay the stolen funds.
Property developer Truong My Lan, 68, was convicted earlier this yr of embezzling cash from Saigon Industrial Financial institution (SCB) — which prosecutors mentioned she managed — and condemned to die for fraud totaling $27 billion in one of many largest corruption instances in historical past.
She is interesting in opposition to her sentence at a court docket in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, with the ruling anticipated within the coming days.
In her closing remarks earlier than the court docket, Lan mentioned: “My solely thought is on how one can repay the debt to the SBV (State Financial institution of Vietnam) and the folks. I don’t take into consideration the harm to myself and my household.
“I really feel pained as a result of waste of nationwide assets,” Lan mentioned, including she felt “very embarrassed to be charged with this crime”.
“Please rethink and cut back my sentence,” she requested the court docket.
In response to Vietnamese legislation, Lan may escape the loss of life penalty if she proactively returns three-quarters of the embezzled belongings and is judged to have co-operated sufficiently with authorities.
However prosecutors argued Monday that she had not met the circumstances, and emphasised her crime’s penalties had been “big and with out precedent”.
Amongst key factors being debated in court docket is an estimate of Lan’s private wealth.
Lan, who based actual property improvement group Van Thinh Phat, informed the court docket that “the quickest approach” to repay the stolen funds can be “to liquidate SCB, and promote our belongings to repay SBV and the folks”.
Tens of 1000’s of people that had invested their financial savings in SCB misplaced cash, surprising the communist nation and prompting uncommon protests from the victims — who demonstrated once more on Tuesday outdoors the State Financial institution of Vietnam in Hanoi.
The State Financial institution mentioned in April that it pumped funds into SCB to stabilise it, with out revealing how a lot.
Throughout her first trial in April, Lan was discovered responsible of embezzling $12.5 billion, however prosecutors mentioned the full damages brought on by the rip-off amounted to $27 billion — equal to round six % of the nation’s 2023 GDP.
A complete of 47 different defendants have requested decreased sentences on the attraction, which started in early November.
Final month, Lan was convicted of cash laundering and jailed for all times in a separate case.
