HO CHI MINH CITY: The appeal of a Vietnamese property tycoon convicted of money laundering began on Tuesday, three months after she lost a challenge against the death penalty in a separate case.
Property developer Truong My Lan was found guilty in April 2024 of stealing money from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) and sentenced to death for fraud amounting to $27 billion.
Lan appealed against that verdict and the court said there was no basis to reduce her sentence, but ruled that she could still escape the death penalty if she returned three quarters of the stolen assets.
Now she is appealing against the verdict from a second trial in October, in which she was sentenced to life in prison for three crimes.
On Tuesday Lan, now accustomed to high-profile hearings, chatted with police officers and looked relatively relaxed as she waited for the court to start in Ho Chi Minh City.
Her niece, who was handed a five-year prison term in October for fraudulent appropriation of property, sat behind her, flanked by officers.
It is the first time Lan is in the dock without her husband, Chu Nap Kee, who is not challenging a two-year sentence he was handed for money laundering in October.
The appeal will last until April 21 and Lan will be defended by eight lawyers, according to state media.
The 68-year-old was found guilty of laundering $17.7 billion and illegal cross-border trafficking of $4.5 billion.
She was also found guilty of bond fraud to the tune of $1.2 billion.
The court determined that Lan was “the mastermind, committed the crime with sophisticated methods, many times, causing especially serious consequences.”
Thirty-three other defendants were also sentenced at the court in Ho Chi Minh City and given terms ranging from two to 23 years in prison.
Twenty-seven of them are appealing against their sentences, state media said.
During her first trial in April, Lan was found guilty of embezzling $12.5 billion but prosecutors said the total damages caused by the scam totaled $27 billion – equivalent to around six percent of the country’s 2023 GDP.
Lan owned just five percent of shares in SCB on paper but at her trial the court concluded that she effectively controlled more than 90 percent through family, friends and staff.
Tens of thousands of people who had invested their savings in the bank lost money, shocking the communist nation and prompting rare protests from the victims.
Vietnam death row tycoon begins appeal in $17.7 billion money-laundering case
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Vietnam death row tycoon begins appeal in $17.7 billion money-laundering case
- Property developer Truong My Lan was found guilty in April 2024 of stealing money from Saigon Commercial Bank
- She was sentenced to death for fraud amounting to $27 billion, but appealed against that verdict
UN chief Guterres warns ‘powerful forces’ undermining global ties
- Guterres paid tribute to Britain for its decisive role in the creation of the United Nations
- He said 2025 had been a “profoundly challenging year for international cooperation and the values of the UN“
LONDON: UN chief Antonio Guterres Saturday deplored a host of “powerful forces lining up to undermine global cooperation” in a London speech marking the 80th anniversary of the first UN General Assembly.
Guterres, whose term as secretary-general ends on December 31 this year, delivered the warning at the Methodist Central Hall in London, where representatives from 51 countries met on January 10, 1946, for the General Assembly’s first session.
They met in London because the UN headquarters in New York had not yet been built.
Guterres paid tribute to Britain for its decisive role in the creation of the United Nations and for continuing to champion it.
But he said 2025 had been a “profoundly challenging year for international cooperation and the values of the UN.”
“We see powerful forces lining up to undermine global cooperation,” he said, adding: “Despite these rough seas, we sail ahead.”
Guterres cited a new treaty on marine biological diversity as an example of continued progress.
The treaty establishes the first legal framework for the conservation and sustainable use of marine diversity in the two-thirds of oceans beyond national limits.
“These quiet victories of international cooperation — the wars prevented, the famine averted, the vital treaties secured — do not always make the headlines,” he said.
“Yet they are real. And they matter.”
