Reported by AFP – Agence France Presse

A Vietnamese property tycoon sentenced to death for fraud totalling $27 billion goes on trial Thursday in a linked case accused of money laundering.

Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, was found guilty in April of swindling cash from the Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade in one of the biggest corruption cases in history.

Lan and 33 other defendants now face new charges of money laundering and illegal cross-border trafficking of cash, in a trial in Ho Chi Minh City that is expected to last a month.

Around 36,000 people have been identified as victims of the SCB fraud, which shocked the communist nation and prompted rare protests from those who lost their money.

State media reports said Lan and her associates stole around $18 billion by taking assets from SCB and issuing bonds between early 2018 and October 2022.

Read full report: https://www.barrons.com/amp/news/vietnam-death-row-tycoon-faces-money-laundering-trial-b661078f