Real estate businesswoman faces death penalty over alleged $12.5 billion embezzlement

The Vietnamese government has charged a real estate tycoon, Truong My Lan, for allegedly stealing $12.5 billion from a commercial bank.

According to a report published by the Voice of America (VOA) Tuesday, Ms Lan, who was tried in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, allegedly committed the crime between 2012 and 2022.

Ms Lan, the chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat, a real estate development corporation, was accused of controlling a majority position in Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB) and embezzling money by arranging bogus loans to several shell firms.

The fraud is estimated to be worth roughly three per cent of Vietnam’s GDP in 2022. Ms Lan faces the death penalty if convicted.

Ms Lan’s arrest is part of the Vietnamese government’s anti-corruption campaign known as Blazing Furnace, which has resulted in the arrest of thousands of government officials and corporate executives in recent years, as well as President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s resignation last year.