Prosecutors want death sentence upheld for property mogul Truong My Lan

The property mogul, who was sentenced death in April for embezzling VND677 trillion (US$) from Saigon Commercial Bank over the course of 10 years, was present Friday at the appeal trial at the People’s High Court of Ho Chi Minh City.

Prosecutors said though the chairwoman of property developer Van Thinh Phat had shown remorse and promised to use hundreds of her assets to compensate Saigon Commercial Bank for the losses she caused, these were not enough to overturn her death sentence.

Besides the death sentence, she was also given 20 years each for bribery and violating banking regulations.

Prosecutors recommended a reduced sentence for the last crime, but suggested that the sentences for the first two crimes should not be commuted.

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