Vietnamese tycoon Truong My Lan has lost her appeal against the death sentence handed down for masterminding the country’s largest-ever fraud scandal, but she can avoid execution if she pays back enough of the embezzled cash.
The judge said that the total loss from the case is "huge, with extremely serious consequences” and there is "no basis to reduce the penalty,” during the hearing at the High People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City.
Under Vietnamese law, Lan can have her death sentence commuted to life in prison if she returns at least three-quarters of the total embezzled assets and cooperates with authorities. Another avenue open to her would be to petition for a pardon from President Luong Cuong. She has seven days to submit that following the verdict.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.