In a landmark ruling that sent shockwaves through Vietnam’s financial sector, Truong My Lan, a prominent 67-year-old property developer, has been sentenced to death for her role in one of the country’s largest bank fraud cases. The verdict was delivered on Thursday, April 11, at the historic colonial-era courthouse in Ho Chi Minh City.
Truong My Lan, described as one of the few women in Vietnam to face such severe consequences for white-collar crimes, was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme to siphon a staggering $44 billion (approximately £35 billion) in loans from the Saigon Commercial Bank over an 11-year period.
The court’s decision mandates her to repay $27 billion, a daunting sum that prosecutors fear may never be fully recovered. Some observers speculate that the severity of the death penalty is intended to compel Truong My Lan to cooperate in returning at least a portion of the embezzled funds.
The trial, marked by its sheer scale and complexity, saw the testimony of approximately 2,700 individuals summoned to provide evidence. A team of 10 state prosecutors, supported by around 200 lawyers, navigated through 104 boxes of evidence weighing a total of six tonnes. Truong My Lan, alongside 85 other defendants, adamantly denied the charges throughout the proceedings.
David Brown, a retired US State Department official with extensive experience in Vietnam, described the trial as unprecedented in the communist nation’s history. “There has never been a show trial like this, I think, in the communist era,” he remarked. “There has certainly been nothing on this scale.”
The trial unfolds against the backdrop of Vietnam’s ambitious anti-corruption campaign, dubbed “Blazing Furnaces,” spearheaded by the Communist Party Secretary-General, Nguyen Phu Trong.
