Death sentence upheld for property tycoon Truong My Lan

By Hai Duyen, Quoc Thang December 2, 2024 | 08:27 pm PT

An appeal court confirmed the death sentence for property mogul Truong My Lan on Tuesday, stating there were no valid reasons for reducing her sentence.

Lan’s crimes have caused grave consequences, and there are no mitigating circumstances to reduce her sentences for embezzlement and bribery, the judges said at the People’s High Court of Ho Chi Minh City.

But the law allows a death sentence to be commuted to life if the guilty party recompenses three-fourths of the losses they caused, they said.

Property tycoon Truong My Lan seen at the People's High Court of Ho Chi Minh City on Dec. 3, 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Besides, since Lan has shown remorse and has submitted assets to compensate Saigon Commercial Bank, they accepted the prosecutors’ recommendation to commute her sentence for violating banking regulations, they added.

She was given 20 years at a trial in April, and prosecutors at appeal trial have suggested reducing it to 16-18 years.

At the April trial Lan and her accomplices were found guilty of embezzling from SCB and causing it a loss of VND677 trillion (US$27 billion) over the course of a decade.

In a separate trial in October Lan was awarded a life sentence for "fraudulent appropriation of assets" through bond issuances and illegal cross-border money transfers among other crimes.