One of Vietnam’s leading property magnates faces potential capital punishment on Thursday as she and her co-defendants await verdicts in a monumental corruption case, entailing an estimated $27 billion in damages.
Truong My Lan, chairperson of major developer Van Thinh Phat, stands accused of embezzling funds from Saigon Commercial Bank over a decade.
Escorted by numerous police vehicles, Lan and 85 others arrived at the colonial-era courthouse in Ho Chi Minh City, where they face charges ranging from bribery to abuse of power and banking law violations.
Despite Lan’s denial of the allegations, prosecutors have called for the death penalty, an unusually harsh sentence in such cases.
Arrested amid a nationwide anti-corruption campaign targeting officials and business elites, Lan’s trial has drawn attention to the vast financial implications of the scandal, affecting around 42,000 victims.
Accused of orchestrating fraudulent loan applications to drain funds from SCB, Lan has left bondholders unable to access their investments or receive interest payments.
During the trial, prosecutors revealed the seizure of over 1,000 properties belonging to Lan and detailed a record-breaking $5.2 million bribe allegedly given to state officials by Lan and SCB bankers to conceal the bank’s malpractice.
Vietnam’s anti-corruption efforts have resulted in thousands of indictments across numerous cases since 2021, demonstrating the government’s commitment to combatting corruption at all levels of society.
