Vietnamese real estate tycoon sentenced to life for billions in fraud in government graft crackdown

Associated Press

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A Vietnamese real estate tycoon has been convicted of fraudulently obtaining property worth billions of dollars and sentenced to life in prison in a case that has been a centerpiece of the government’s crackdown on corruption. Truong My Lan was already convicted in April by the same Ho Chi Minh City court of fraud amounting to $12.5 billion — nearly 3% of the country’s gross domestic product — in a separate case and sentenced to death by lethal injection. Thursday’s verdict adds to Lan’s legal troubles as she awaits the appeal of her death sentence to be heard.