HCMC - Truong My Lan, chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group Corporation, has appealed against the death sentence imposed on her by the lower court, said local media reports.

The People's Court of HCMC received an appeal from Lan yesterday, April 26, the specifics of the appeal were not made public. Fifty other defendants in the Van Thinh Phat fraud case also lodged their appeals seeking leniency. On April 11, the lower court issued a verdict sentencing Lan to 20 years in prison for violations of banking regulations, death for embezzlement of assets, and an additional 20 years behind bars for bribery. This combined sentence amounts to capital punishment. Addressing civil liability, the court ordered Lan to repay SCB 1,243 loans that had been made as of October 17, 2022, amounting to more than VND673.8 trillion. The court asserted that the investigative process, court proceedings, and testimonies of the defendants were in line with the evidence contained in the case files, dismissing all arguments put forth by Lan and her legal team. By October 2022, Lan had acquired and held up to 91.5% of SCB’s shares through individuals and legal entities acting as nominees. Utilizing her actual majority ownership of SCB shares, Lan allegedly directed her accomplices to forge loan files and fabricate loan requests to siphon funds from SCB for personal gains. In connection with the case, the remaining 85 defendants received jail, suspended and life imprisonment sentences.