HO CHI MINH CITY: A Vietnamese actual property tycoon sentenced to demise for multibillion-dollar fraud begged a court docket to spare her life on Tuesday (Nov 26), saying she was attempting to repay stolen funds.
Property developer Truong My Lan, 68, was convicted earlier this yr of embezzling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) – which prosecutors stated he managed – and sentenced to demise for fraud totaling of $27 billion in one of many largest corruption circumstances in historical past.
She is interesting her sentence to a court docket in Ho Chi Minh City, with a ruling anticipated within the subsequent few days.
In his ultimate remarks earlier than the court docket, Lan stated: “My solely thought is the way to repay the debt to the SBV (State Bank of Vietnam) and the individuals. I do not take into consideration the hurt to me and my household.
“I really feel saddened by the waste of nationwide sources,” Lan stated, including that she feels “very embarrassed to be accused of this crime.”
“Please rethink and scale back my sentence,” he requested the court docket.
Under Vietnamese regulation, Lan may escape the demise penalty if he proactively returned three-quarters of his stolen property and was deemed to have sufficiently cooperated with authorities.
But prosecutors argued on Monday that the girl had not met the situations and burdened that the results of her crime have been “monumental and unprecedented.”
