Vietnamese prosecutors have told property tycoon Truong My Lan she must repay an estimated US$11 billion if she wants to avoid execution by lethal injection.
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Lan, 68, is appealing her death sentence after being convicted in April of embezzling US$12.3 billion from Saigon Commercial Bank. She was also found guilty of bribing government officials and violating bank lending rules.
Prosecutors have so far argued against leniency at her hearing in Ho Chi Minh City unless she finds a way to return a significant chunk of the 415.7 trillion dong (US$16.4 billion) she was found guilty of embezzling in two separate trials, according to her lawyer.
“We are now trying to help her to avoid the death penalty,” Lan’s lawyer Giang Hong Thanh said. “There is a group of overseas investors who have agreed to lend Lan US$400 million and they are working on the documents required to send the money in,” he said.
That is one of a number of potential investments or loans her legal team says is in the works to help Lan clear some of her debts. Thanh said he believes Lan can meet the payback requirement to avoid the death penalty. Under Vietnamese court law, if Lan can return three-quarters of the embezzled assets, the jury can consider a reduction in her sentence.
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The real estate mogul’s trials have grabbed global attention due to the severity of the sentence. The Communist government is showcasing that her cases are the kind of high-level corruption it wants to go after.