The appeal of a Vietnamese real estate tycoon convicted of money laundering began on Tuesday, three months after she lost a challenge to the death penalty in a separate case.
Real estate tycoon Trung My Lan was convicted in April 2024 of stealing money from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) and sentenced to death for defrauding $27 billion. Lan appealed the verdict, and the court found no basis for reducing his sentence. However, the court said he could avoid the death penalty if he returned three-quarters of the stolen property.
He is currently appealing the verdict in a second trial in October, in which he was sentenced to life in prison for three crimes. Lan, accustomed to high-profile hearings, chatted with police officers on Tuesday and appeared relatively relaxed as he waited for the court to begin in Ho Chi Minh City.
His niece, who was sentenced to five years in prison in October for property fraud, sat behind him, surrounded by police officers. This is the first time she has appeared in court without her husband, Chu Nyap, who accepted a two-year sentence for money laundering in October. According to state media, the appeal will run until April 21 and Lan will be defended by eight lawyers.
Lan, 68, was convicted of money laundering of $17.7 billion and illegal cross-border transactions of $4.5 billion. She was also charged with fraud of $1.2 billion. The court determined that Lan was ‘the mastermind, committed the crime in a sophisticated manner, on multiple occasions, which led to particularly serious consequences’.
Another 33 defendants were also convicted in a court in Ho Chi Minh City and given prison sentences ranging from two to 23 years. State media reported that 27 of them are appealing their sentences. Lan was found guilty of embezzling $12.5 billion during his first trial in April, but prosecutors say the fraud caused a total loss of $27 billion, equivalent to about six percent of the country’s 2023 gross domestic product (GDP).
Lan only had a five percent stake in SCB on paper, but the court concluded that he effectively controlled 90 percent through family, friends, and employees. Tens of thousands of people who had deposited their savings in banks lost their money, shocking the communist nation and inspiring victims to stage rare protests.
