Vietnam court upholds death sentence for property tycoon

Vietnamese property tycoon Truong My Lan (R) looks on at a court in Ho Chi Minh city on Dec. 3, 2024.

A Vietnamese court upheld the death penalty on Tuesday for a property tycoon in a multi-billion dollar fraud case, but said her life could still be spared if she paid back three quarters of the assets she embezzled.

Property developer Truong My Lan, 68, was convicted earlier this year of swindling money from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), which prosecutors said she controlled, and condemned to die for fraud totalling $27 billion.

She appealed the verdict in a month-long trial, but on Tuesday the court in Ho Chi Minh City determined that there was "no basis" to reduce the death sentence for Lan.

The court, however, said that if she returns three quarters of the stolen assets, her sentence could be reduced to life imprisonment.

Tens of thousands of people who invested their savings in SCB lost money, shocking the communist nation and prompting rare protests from the victims.

Lan, who founded real estate development group Van Thinh Phat, owned just 5 percent of shares in SCB on paper, but at her trial, the court concluded that she effectively controlled more than 90 percent through family, friends and staff.

The State Bank said in April that it pumped funds into SCB to stabilise it, without revealing how much.

Among the assets that Lan and Van Thinh Phat own are a shopping mall, a harbour and luxurious housing complexes in business hub Ho Chi Minh City.

During her first trial in April, Lan was found guilty of embezzling $12.5 billion, but prosecutors said the total damages caused by the scam amounted to $27 billion, equivalent to around six percent of the country's 2023 GDP.