Vietnamese real estate tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced to death on Thursday by a court in Ho Chi Minh City for her role in Vietnam's largest-ever financial fraud case, according to state media.
Lan, the 67-year-old chairwoman of real estate company Van Thinh Phat, received the sentence for running a huge financial scam that caused losses to a state bank of 677 trillion Vietnamese Dong ($27 billion) - more than 6% of the country's 2022 gross domestic product (GDP).
She was officially charged at the start of the trial of fraud amounting to $12.5 billion.
According to online newspaper VnExpress, the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City found Lan guilty of bribery, embezzlement and violating banking regulations. Prosecutors said she was the mastermind behind a vast web of organized crime.
Between 2012 and 2022, Lan indirectly owned a 91.5% stake in Saigon Commercial Bank. She ordered bank leaders to approve loans to thousands of shell companies, before bribing officials and siphoning off the funds as cash. Lan's accomplices approved around 2,500 loans, according to state media reports.
The scandal also saw the largest-ever bribe for a government official, with banking inspector Do Thi Nhan paid $5.2 million to stay silent.
Lan's case marks one of the most high-profile trials in a sweeping anti-corruption campaign that has also seen hundreds of government officials lose their jobs or face trial.
In March, former president Vo Van Thuong resigned after being ensnared in a corruption scandal, becoming the second Vietnamese president to resign since Communist Party Secretary-General Nguyen Phu Trong launched his "Blazing Furnace" corruption crackdown in 2016.