Vietnamese Mogul Truong Lan told to repay missing billions to save her life

By Francesca Stevens and Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen

 

Vietnamese prosecutors have told property tycoon Truong My Lan she must repay an estimated $11 billion if she wants to avoid execution by lethal injection.

 

Lan, 68, is appealing her death sentence after being convicted in April of embezzling $12.3 billion from Saigon Commercial Bank. She was also found guilty of bribing government officials and violating bank lending rules.

 

Prosecutors have so far argued against leniency at her hearing in Ho Chi Minh City unless she finds a way to return a significant chunk of the 415.7 trillion dong ($16.4 billion) she was found guilty of embezzling in two separate trials, according to her lawyer.

 

 

“We are now trying to help her to avoid the death penalty,” Lan’s lawyer Giang Hong Thanh said. “There is a group of overseas investors who have agreed to lend Lan $400 million and they are working on the documents required to send the money in,” he said. 

 

That’s one of a number of potential investments or loans her legal team says is in the works to help Lan clear some of her debts. Thanh said he believes Lan can meet the payback requirement to avoid the death penalty. Under Vietnamese court law, if Lan can return three-quarters of the embezzled assets, the jury can consider a reduction in her sentence.

 

The real estate mogul’s trials have grabbed global attention due to the severity of the sentence. The Communist government is showcasing that her cases are the kind of high-level corruption it wants to go after.

 

Tycoon Shocked

 

Lan earlier this month appeared shocked and her voice trembled in court when prosecutors proposed that the death sentence remain. She said she was psychologically disturbed by the decision, according to news website VnExpress. The panel of judges asked her to calm down and said she had permission to continue her defense while seated, though she declined. 

 

In a second trial in October, she was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of illegally transporting roughly $4.5 billion across international borders, laundering some $17.5 billion in pilfered assets from Saigon Commercial Bank, and misappropriating about $1.2 billion from investors via bond issuances.

 

The former chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group is one of the highest-profile targets of the government’s years-long anti-corruption crackdown, known as the “blazing furnace” campaign. It was spearheaded by the late Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and his successor, To Lam, has said he will “resolutely” continue the aggressive push that has touched all aspects of society and led to the detention of scores of senior officials and business executives.

 

In the most recent example, disciplinary measures were taken against well-known political figures including the former parliament chairman, Vuong Dinh Hue, who was given an official warning for violating anti-corruption regulations on Nov. 21. It’s the first time one of the holders of the nation’s top four political positions has been publicly disciplined in this way.

 

The appeal hearing was initially expected to end on Nov. 25, but the drive for Lan to return as much cash as possible extended the process. The court has now adjourned to consider its decision, which is expected on Tuesday, according to Lan’s legal team.

 

“We really hope that the court will give her a chance to live so she can manage to settle all the debt,” her lawyer Thanh said. 

 

Forty seven other defendants are appealing their sentences during the same hearing, according to local media.