Vietnam's real estate tycoon Truong My Lan sentenced to death in fraud case. Who is she, the case - All you need to know

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Vietnam, however, it is rare in financial crime cases and for someone this well known. Lan was involved in the 2011 merger of the troubled Saigon Joint Commercial Bank, or SCB, with two other lenders in a plan coordinated by Vietnam’s central bank. According to the government documents, Lan is accused of using the bank for personal gains, illegally controlling it between 2012 to 2022.

The documents further stated that she utilized numerous "ghost companies" both domestically and internationally to issue loans to herself and her associates. The loans resulted in losses of $27 billion, state media VN Express said as reported by Associated Press. In addition to this, Lan as per the documents, was accused of paying bribes to government officials, including a former central official who has been sentenced to life in prison for taking $5.2 million in bribes.

While sentensing her to death, the court said, her actions “not only violate the property management rights of individuals but also pushed SCB into a state of special control, eroding people’s trust in the leadership of the (Communist) party and state." Truong My Lan who was arrested in October 2022 in an ongoing anti-corruption drive in Vietnam that has intensified since 2022. As reported by state media outlet Tien Phong, Lan, born in 1956, initially assisted her Chinese businesswoman mother in selling cosmetics at Ho Chi Minh City's oldest market. In 1992, she and her family founded Van Thinh Phat, which evolved into one of Vietnam's wealthiest real estate companies over the years.