Hermes bags of property tycoon Truong My Lan remain seized as court denies return request

Judges of the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City ruled that the bags "originated from illegal sources of money" and will remain confiscated.

Lan, who was given the life sentence for fraudulent appropriation of assets, has earlier requested for the bags to be returned to her family.

She bought one bag in Italy and received the other as a gift from a Malaysian billionaire, she said.

"These bags do not hold significant value compared to my other confiscated assets. I would like them returned to my family as keepsakes."

Also Thursday the court ruled that Lan was the mastermind behind a fraudulent bond scheme worth VND30 trillion ($1.2 billion), which were bought by 35,800 investors.

She was also found guilty of money laundering and illegal cross-border money transfers.

Lan received a life sentence for these charges, in addition to the death sentence she was handed in April for embezzling VND677 trillion ($27 billion) from Saigon Commercial Bank. She has appealed the death sentence.