Tycoon facing death sentence cuts his jail term to 30 years in a $17 billion Vietnam money laundering case

A Vietnamese property tycoon, who was sentenced to a lifetime in a $17 billion money laundering case, cut her sentence to 30 years after she claimed what happened was an “accident.”

Property developers My LAN In another case, she has lost her challenge to the death penalty, in a separate case, she was found guilty last April for stealing money from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) for $27 billion in fraud.

The Court of Appeals ruled that no case would reduce her sentence, but said she Still escape death penalty If she returns three-quarters of the stolen assets. The BBC reported that this means she can still avoid executing $9 billion, or three-quarters of the $12 billion she misappropriated.

Four months later, a Ho Chi Minh City appeals court ruled Monday that her life sentence for three counts would be reduced to 30 years in a second trial in October.

Judge Pham Cong Muoi discussed how her assets were used to compensate victims of her crimes during the appeal.

Prosecutors said she has paid back a quarter of the $1.2 billion cheated by thousands of bond investors.

“The total value of her shares actually exceeds the amount of compensation required,” attorney Nguyen Huy Thiep told the BBC. “But these assets are real estate and require time and effort to sell.

Lan’s husband, Chu Lap Co, did not appeal, but the jury concluded that his two-year sentence should be reduced in half after he paid back $1.2 million of money he was found laundering.

In the last sentence in court last week, LAN described what happened as an “accident.”

“Since being sentenced to jail, I have tried my best to … seek the best solution to (handle my) projects and property,” state media said.

She added: “Please acknowledge my efforts.”

Court determines LAN is “planner”

The 68-year-old was found guilty of $17.7 billion in money laundering and illegal cross-border trafficking in October.

She was also convicted of Bond fraud.

The court determined during the trial that LAN was “a mastermind who committed the crime in a complicated way, with particularly serious consequences.”

In the first trial in April 2024, LAN was found guilty of $12.5 billion in misappropriation, but prosecutors said the losses caused by the scam totaled $27 billion, equivalent to 6% of Vietnam’s 2023 GDP.

LAN is only 5% of SCB shares on paper, but the court concluded that she effectively controlled over 90% through her family, friends and employees.

Thousands of people invested in savings in banks and lost money, prompting rare protests in communist countries.

The BBC reported that LAN was sometimes rebellious during her trial, but at a recent hearing, she was even more regretful about her appeal to the verdict. She said she felt ashamed of the loss of the state and her only idea was to pay off the money she had taken.

Lan said in November: “I feel pain because of wasting national resources.