ANKARA

A Vietnamese court on Tuesday rejected an appeal of property tycoon Truong My Lan and upheld her death sentence in over $12 billion bank fraud, local media reported.

An appeal court in Ho Chi Minh City confirmed the death sentence, stating there were no valid reasons for reducing her sentence, the online newspaper VnExpress reported.

"Lan’s crimes have caused grave consequences, and there are no mitigating circumstances to reduce her sentences for embezzlement and bribery," the judges said in its ruling.

But the law allows a death sentence to be commuted to life if the guilty party recompenses three-fourths of the losses they caused, they said.


Lan, a prominent property tycoon in the country, was sentenced to death in October for her role in the country’s biggest financial fraud.


Lan and her other accomplices were found guilty of embezzling from Saigon Commercial Bank and causing billions of dollars in losses over a decade.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid