KUALA LUMPUR – The Vietnam court spared no mercy for property tycoon Truong My Lan, sentencing her to death for embezzling US$27 billion (RM128.12 billion), which is equivalent to 6% of the country’s 2023 GDP.
A panel of three jurors and two judges rejected all arguments made by the defence and found Truong guilty of defrauding the Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) for more than a decade.
She was also ordered to pay almost the entire sum as compensation.
Truong’s husband, Hong Kong billionaire Eric Chu Nap Kee, was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Another 85 people were also sentenced on charges ranging from bribery and abuse of power to appropriation and violations of banking law. Four were given life imprisonment, while the others received jail terms ranging between 20 years and three years suspended, reported AFP.
The former head of the state bank of Vietnam’s inspection team, Do Thi Nhan, was sentenced to life in prison for receiving bribes. During the trial, millions of dollars were given to her in styrofoam boxes by the former chief executive officer of SCB.
Truong was accused of setting up fake loan applications to withdraw money from SCB, in which she owned a 90% stake.
She and some SCB bankers were also accused of handing over US$5.2 million to state officials to conceal the fraud.
As a result of the fraud, all SCB bondholders could not withdraw their money and have not received interest or principal payments since Truong’s arrest.
Prosecutors told the court that more than 1,000 properties belonging to her were seized. – April 11, 2024