Vietnamese tycoon Truong My Lan escapes death penalty, to serve life in jail
Vietnamese real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, who masterminded a US$12.5 billion
banking fraud , has avoided the gallows after the government on Wednesday scrapped the death penalty for eight crimes, including embezzlement.
Lan, the chairwoman of property giant the Van Thinh Phat Group, was sentenced to death last year on embezzlement and bribery charges.
Her lawyer said the sentence 'will be converted to life imprisonment' after the National Assembly abolished capital punishment for eight offences, which included espionage, corruption, and an attempt to overthrow the government.
Giang Hong Thanh added that Lan was 'very happy'.
Lan was convicted last April of using multiple ghost companies to gain control of the Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), plundering US$12.5 billion from the lender.
But total damages caused by the fraud may have hit US$27 billion, according to prosecutors.
In May, an appeal court ruled that Lan, 68, could escape the death penalty if she paid back three-quarters of the amount stolen.
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