Vietnam tycoon Truong My Lan, already sentenced to death, faces trial on new charges
Vietnamese real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, already sentenced to death, faces a new trial starting on Thursday on additional financial fraud charges, state media reported.
Lan, the chairwoman of real estate developer Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, is facing charges of obtaining property by fraud, money laundering and illegal cross-border money transfers, state media reported.
Lan is among the high-profile business executives and state officials jailed in the communist-ruled country’s years-long anti-graft campaign, known as « Blazing Furnace ».
Her trial in Ho Chi Minh City is scheduled to last a month, the reports said. Thirty-three of Lan’s alleged accomplices will also be on trial, with authorities expecting up to 1,000 people will attend the proceedings each day.
Lan is accused of illegally raising 30 trillion dong ($1.2 billion) from issuing bonds, illegally transferring $4.5 billion into and out of Vietnam, and laundering 445 trillion dong ($18.1 billion), according to a police statement released ahead of the trial.
In April, Lan was sentenced to death in a separate trial after being found guilty of embezzlement, bribery and violations of banking rules in a 304 trillion dong financial fraud, the country’s biggest on record. ($1 = 24,600 dong)
By Khanh Vu & John Mair – Reuters – September 19, 2024