“No mitigating circumstances likely to reduce the sentence.” Judges at the Ho Chi Minh City Court of Appeal ruled on Tuesday, December 3, confirming the death sentence of businesswoman Truong My Lan. Fallen boss of the real estate giant Van Thinh Phat, she was found guilty in April of three crimes – “corruption, violation of banking regulations and embezzlement” – and sentenced to death.
The website of the BBC recounts how, over a period of ten years, the businesswoman took control of Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), the fifth largest bank in the country. A network of shell companies allowed him to take out loans and obtain liquidity for a total loss estimated at 27 billion dollars (25 billion euros).
A system of widespread corruption
The amounts of the scam “represent 3% of the country’s gross domestic product”, making this affair a “symbol of the repression of corruption in Vietnam”, add Nikkei Asia.
The businesswoman made her fortune investing in land and real estate from the end of the 1980s and the economic reforms undertaken in Vietnam. His arrest and conviction
Belgium
