Vietnamese tycoon escaped the death penalty for $27 billion fraud after Hanoi suddenly renounced the death penalty for embezzlement of property

My Lan’s lawyer Giang Hong Thanh told AFP that her death penalty would “convert to life sentences.”

Vietnam abolished the death penalty for eight crimes on Wednesday, including eight crimes, grafts and attempts to overthrow the government, according to state media.

The 68-year-old LAN was convicted of fraudulent money from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) last year, which prosecutors said she was in control and that she was sentenced to fraud with a total of $27 billion in damages.

She appealed the verdict in a one-month trial, but in December a Ho Chi Minh city court ruled that there was “no basis” to reduce her sentence.

However, the court said that if three-quarters of the stolen property is returned, LAN’s sentence could be reduced to life’s imprisonment.

“If Ms. LAN compensates for the three-quarters of the loss along with several other conditions, she will continue to be considered to further reduce her sentence,” attorney Tan said Wednesday.

LAN said, “We are actively working with Vietnam and her partner state agencies to find ways to deal with (her) assets and restructure the SCB to lead us to the final solution.”

LAN owned only 5% of SCB’s stake on paper, but the court concluded that it effectively controls more than 90% through family, friends and staff.

Tens of thousands of people who invested their savings in banks lost their money, prompting rare protests in communist countries.

In another $17 billion money laundering case, LAN was sentenced to 30 years of terminating at the time of appeal in April.

According to the revised criminal code approved by the National Assembly on Wednesday, eight crimes that could no longer be punished by death include embezzlement of property and bribery.

Under Vietnamese law, those sentenced to death for eight crimes, including spying and anti-state activities, before July 1, will be converted to life sentences by the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court.

Public Security Minister Luong Tam Quang said “the current structure of the death penalty is problematic, in some cases it has become inconsistent with evolving socioeconomic conditions and the reality of crime prevention.”

One of the reasons for the move given by Justice Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh is that in most cases people who were sentenced to death for the above crimes were not actually executed.

The number of executions has not been made public, but Amnesty International estimates that more than 1,200 people have been on death row in Vietnam by the end of 2024.