Vietnamese real estate tycoon sentenced to death in multi-billion-dollar fraud case

A top Vietnamese property tycoon was sentenced to death on Thursday in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated $27 billion in damages.

The jury in Ho Chi Minh City rejected all defence arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, finding her guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank over a decade. Her actions had "eroded people's trust in the leadership of the Party and state," the jury said, according to state media.

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More than a dozen police cars and vans carrying the defendants arrived at the colonial-era courthouse in the early morning. The defendants include former central bankers, ex-government officials and previous SCB executives.

Lan allegedly embezzled $12.5 billion, but prosecutors said on Thursday the total damages caused by the scam now amounted to $27 billion – a figure equivalent to six percent of the country's 2023 GDP.

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