Summary
Vietnam’s High People’s Court upheld the death sentence for real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, convicted of embezzlement and bribery in a record $12 billion fraud case.
Lan can avoid execution by returning $9 billion (three-quarters of the stolen funds), potentially reducing her sentence to life imprisonment.
Her crimes caused widespread economic harm, including a bank run and $24 billion in government intervention to stabilize the financial system.
Lan has admitted guilt but prosecutors deemed her actions unprecedentedly damaging. She retains limited legal recourse through retrial procedures.
Perhaps it’s a realization that under the circumstances of a forced sale, she couldn’t possibly repay the total. In which case, with death inevitable, could she leave it to a loved one instead? Probably it could be seized but there’d be a legal tangle which repayment would avoid? Just speculation.