HCMC – The High People’s Court in HCMC today, December 3, upheld a death sentence against Truong My Lan, former chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat (VTP) Holdings Group Corporation, in financial misconduct related to Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB), VTP, and related entities.
The judges, acknowledging Lan’s progress in understanding the gravity of her actions and expressing remorse, reduced her sentence for lending violations. However, they upheld the lower court’s sentences for embezzlement and bribery in April due to the grave consequences and the extraordinary scale of the crimes.
The 68-year-old real estate tycoon was sentenced to death for embezzlement and 20 years for bribery. Her sentence for violating lending regulations was reduced to 16 years, but the overall punishment remains capital punishment.
While Lan attempted to rectify the damage by offering assets, these efforts were insufficient to meet the legal requirement of compensating for the harm caused, according to the judges.
In Vietnam, a death sentence can be commuted to life imprisonment if the defendant cooperates in remedying the consequences of the crime and compensates for at least three-fourths of the damages, as stipulated in Article 40 of the 2015 Penal Code, amended and supplemented in 2017.
Lan is still obligated to pay over VND673.8 trillion to SCB for 1,243 outstanding loans. The court also denied her request to waive over VND600 billion in court fees.
The appeals of Do Thi Nhan, former chief of the Inspectorate and Supervision Department II under the State Bank of Vietnam, and three former SCB leaders for reduced life sentences were rejected.
Several other defendants, including Lan’s husband Chu Nap Kee Eric and former VTP Group CEO Truong Hue Van, received reduced sentences due to mitigating circumstances.
