What to know about the Vietnamese real estate tycoon sentenced to death in fraud case

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL
Associated Press

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A Vietnamese real estate tycoon was sentenced to death in the country’s biggest ever financial fraud case, underlining an intensifying anti-corruption drive in the southeast Asian nation. Truong My Lan, a high-profile businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022. The 67-year-old was formally charged of fraud amounting to $12.5 billion. That’s nearly 3% of the country’s 2022 GDP. Death sentences are not uncommon in Vietnam, but it is rare in financial crime cases and for someone this high profile to be sentenced. Her arrest is among the most high-profile in the so-called Blazing Furnace campaign against corruption that has also singed the highest echelons of Vietnamese politics.