Truong My Lan, a Vietnamese billionaire, has been sentenced to death for orchestrating a bank fraud of unprecedented scale in Vietnam, involving the theft of $44 billion from Saigon Commercial Bank over an 11-year period. This landmark case, held in Ho Chi Minh City’s colonial-era courthouse, marks one of the few instances where a woman has been sentenced to death for a financial crime in the country.
At 67 years old, the property developer’s trial has become the most high-profile in Vietnam’s history, reflecting the staggering magnitude of the fraud. According to the BBC, the court has ordered My Lan to repay $27 billion of the stolen funds, a sum prosecutors fear may be irrecoverable. Some speculate that the severity of the sentence may be intended to compel her to return a portion of the embezzled money.
The trial was notably transparent, with communist authorities providing detailed information to the media—a departure from their typically reserved communication style. It involved about 2,700 witnesses, 10 state prosecutors, and approximately 200 lawyers. The evidence comprised 104 boxes of documents, weighing six tonnes in total.
Alongside My Lan, 85 other defendants were tried, contributing to the spectacle and scale of the proceedings. Despite her denial of the charges, the trial has been a centerpiece of the “Blazing Furnaces” anti-corruption campaign led by Communist Party Secretary-General Nguyen Phu Trong. This campaign, and My Lan’s trial in particular, have highlighted Vietnam’s intensified efforts to combat corruption within its borders.
