Prosecutors Push for Reduced Life Sentence in $1.16 Billion Fraud Case Against Tycoon Truong My Lan

The prosecutors are seeking a diminished life sentence for real estate magnate Truong My Lan, arguing that she has repaid one-fourth of the VND30 trillion ($1.16 billion) she swindled from numerous bond investors.

Last October, Lan was handed a life sentence for masterminding the fraud. She is currently arguing her case before an appeals court in Ho Chi Minh City, hoping to have her sentence reduced.

On Thursday, prosecutors informed the court that authorities had seized assets totaling VND8 trillion from Lan, which will be used to compensate the victims, thus justifying a reduction in her life sentence.

However, they declined to endorse Lan’s challenge against the remaining convictions: 12 years for money laundering and eight years for illicit international fund transfers.

Property tycoon Truong My Lan seen at an appeal court in Ho Chi Minh City in April 2025. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Tung

They additionally aimed for a more lenient sentence for Lan’s spouse, Hong Kong real estate tycoon Eric Chu.

Though Chu has not appealed his two-year jail sentence for helping Lan launder money, he has turned in assets to the court to compensate for the losses caused, which the judges should take into account, they added.

In October, the lower court determined that Lan, who heads the real estate company Van Thinh Phat, was responsible for orchestrating a fraudulent bond scheme that involved 35,800 investors.

The court also found her guilty of laundering money worth VND445 trillion which she embezzled from Saigon Commercial Bank, a bank she indirectly controlled.

She and her partners were convicted of unlawfully transferring and accepting $4.5 billion from abroad.

Last year, she was similarly granted an opportunity to death sentence for embezzling VND677 trillion (US$27 billion) from Saigon Commercial Bank over a 10-year period.