Truong My Lan, a 68-year-old influential Vietnamese property magnate, has lost the appeal against her death sentence for orchestrating the world’s largest bank fraud. The 68-year-old has been battling to avoid execution. Vietnam law stipulated repaying 75 per cent of the stolen amount could reduce her sentence to life imprisonment. Despite her recent plea for leniency, Lan is racing against time to repay $9 billion, three-quarters of the $12 billion she was found to have embezzled.
Where it all began for Truong My Lan
Truong My Lan’s journey from a market vendor to one of Vietnam’s most powerful figures began in Ho Chi Minh City, where she sold cosmetics with her mother, as per the BBC. Capitalising on the economic reforms of 1986, she expanded her business, amassing a substantial property portfolio that included hotels and restaurants by the 1990s. By the time she became the chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group, her real estate empire was vast, and she had significant influence in the sector.
The fraud
Truong My Lan’s fraudulent activities were exposed following her arrest in October 2022. Prosecutors revealed she secretly controlled Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), the country’s fifth-largest lender. Between 2012 and 2022, Lan used numerous shell companies and third parties to orchestrate a vast financial scheme involving fake loan applications. This scheme allowed her to siphon off an estimated $12.5 billion. Prosecutors estimated that the total damages from the fraud could have reached US$27 billion, which, in 2022, represented nearly 3% of Vietnam’s GDP. This fraud left thousands of ordinary citizens without their life savings, tied up in the bank and their real estate ventures.
To mask the fraud, Lan and her co-conspirators, including former bank executives and government officials, allegedly paid bribes of $5.2 million to state officials — an amount that was the largest recorded bribe in Vietnam’s history.
The trial
The trial involved 85 defendants, including Lan’s husband, a Hong Kong businessman, and her niece. The authorities had to secure 105 boxes of evidence, weighing over six tonnes, and installed security cameras to safeguard the information. In April 2024, Lan was sentenced to death for embezzlement, bribery, and breaches of banking regulations.
The road ahead
Truong My Lan’s legal team has been working to raise the $9 billion needed to avoid execution, as she continues to sell assets and seek loans from friends. Despite these efforts, liquidating her holdings, which include luxury real estate and stakes in various ventures, has proven challenging. Her lawyers argue that her death sentence hinders her ability to negotiate the best prices for her assets and claim she would have better prospects if her sentence were reduced to life imprisonment.
