(Oct 11): The Vietnamese court weighing criminal charges that include laundering against real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, already facing the death penalty for massive fraud, is expected to announce a verdict on Oct 17, according to her lawyer.

Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence for Lan who, along with 33 co-defendants that include her husband and niece, has been charged with fraudulent appropriation of property, money laundering, and the illegal transport of currency across international borders. 

In April, Lan was sentenced to death for her role in Vietnam’s largest-ever fraud case, after being found guilty of embezzling US$12.3 billion (RM52.7 billion) from Saigon Commercial Bank between February 2018 and October 2022. She is appealing against her death sentence.

No date for her appeal hearing has been set, said Lan’s lawyer Giang Hong Thanh. 

In the second case, the police have charged Lan and her co-defendants with the illegal transportation of roughly US$4.5 billion across international borders over 10 years beginning in October 2012, according to local media. They are accused of laundering around 446 trillion dong (US$18 billion or RM77 billion) in pilfered assets from Saigon Commercial Bank and defrauding bond investors. Lan and her allies are also charged with appropriating about 31 trillion dong from investors via bond issuances.

Lan has promised to try to compensate her bondholders, her lawyer Thanh said. 

Prosecutors are asking for jail sentences ranging from 24 months to 27 years for the other defendants.

In court on Friday, Lan cried and asked judges to reduce the sentences for herself and the other defendants, the Tuoi Tre newspaper reported. 

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