Getty Images
Vietnamese real estate tycoon Truong My Lan is in a race for his life.
On Tuesday, the 68-year-old will hear the verdict in her appeal against the death sentence handed down to her in April for orchestrating the world's largest bank fraud.
This is a rare and shocking verdict: she is one of the few women in Vietnam to be sentenced to death for a white-collar crime.
The court found that she secretly controlled Saigon Commercial Bank, the country's fifth-largest lender, and raised loans and cash for more than 10 years through a network of shell companies, totaling $44 billion (£34.5 billion).
Of that amount, prosecutors say $27 billion was embezzled and $12 billion was found to be misappropriated, the most serious financial crime for which she was sentenced to death.
However, Vietnamese law states that if she can repay 75% of what she took, her sentence will be commuted to life in prison.
During her trial in April, Truong My Lan, who had been chairwoman of the real estate company Van Thinh Phat Group, was at times defiant. But during recent appeal hearings against the conviction, she appeared more contrite.
She said she was embarrassed that she had put such a burden on the state and that her only thought was to repay what she had taken.
Bloomberg/Getty Images
Truong My Lan, chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Holdings, second from left, at the People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Thursday, September 19, 2024.
Born into a Chinese-Vietnamese family in Ho Chi Minh City, Truong My Lan started as a market vendor, selling cosmetics with her mother. It began buying land and properties after the Communist Party introduced economic reform in 1986. By the 1990s, it owned a large portfolio of hotels and restaurants.
When she was convicted and sentenced in April, she was chairwoman of a major real estate company, Van Thinh Phat Group. It was a dramatic moment in the “Burning Furnaces” anti-corruption campaign led by then Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
The remaining 85 defendants were found guilty. Four were sentenced to life in prison, while the others received suspended prison sentences ranging from 20 years to three years. Truong My Lan's husband and niece were sentenced to nine and 17 years in prison, respectively.
The State Bank of Vietnam reportedly spent several billion dollars to recapitalize Saigon Commercial Bank to prevent a wider banking run. Prosecutors argued his crimes were “enormous and unprecedented” and did not warrant leniency.
Truong My Lan's lawyers say she is working as quickly as possible to find the $9 billion needed. But cashing out your assets proves difficult.
Some are luxury properties located in the Vietnamese capital, Ho Chi Minh City, which could, in theory, be sold relatively quickly. Others take the form of shares or participations in other companies or real estate projects.
In total, the state has identified more than a thousand different assets linked to the fraud. These are currently frozen by the authorities. The BBC understands the tycoon has also contacted friends for loans to help him achieve his goal.
Getty Images
A building under construction belonging to the Van Thinh Phat group in Ho Chi Minh City
His lawyers are demanding leniency from the judges for financial reasons. They say that as long as she is on death row, it will be difficult for her to negotiate the best price to sell her assets and investments, and therefore harder for her to raise $9 billion.
She could do much better if given a life sentence, they say.
“The total value of his assets actually exceeds the amount of compensation required,” lawyer Nguyen Huy Thiep told the BBC.
“However, selling them requires time and effort because most of the assets are real estate and liquidating them takes time. Truong My Lan hopes that the court can create the most favorable conditions for her to continue paying compensation.
Few expect judges to be moved by these arguments. If, as expected, they reject her appeal, Truong My Lan will indeed enter a race with the executioner to raise the funds she needs.
Vietnam considers the death penalty a state secret. The government does not publish the number of people on death row, although human rights groups say there are more than 1,000 and Vietnam is one of the greatest executioners in the world.
There are usually long delays, often several years, before sentences are carried out, although prisoners receive very little notice. If Truong My Lan manages to recover the $9 billion before this happens, his life will most likely be spared.
