(Image source from: Apnews.com)

State media recently reported that Truong My Lan, a Vietnamese real estate magnate, was condemned to death by a Ho Chi Minh City court for his involvement in the country's largest ever scam. Lan (67), who was detained in 2022, happens to be the head of Van Thinh Phat Real Estate Company. This led her to be charged with frauding worth $12 billion or slightly less than three percent of Vietnam’s GDP in 2022 as stated by The Associated Press based on Vietnam’s Thanh Nien magazine. Over the period between 2012 and 2022, she illicitly controlled Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank and siphoned money via thousands of phantom firms and bribed some government officials.

Lan’s arrest was one of the most publicised in an intensified anti-corruption push since 2022. Even top Vietnamese politicians were not spared by this drive, called ‘Blazing Furnace’. Last month Vo Van Thuong resigned under suspicions from the ongoing anti-corruption campaign. Van Thinh Phat belongs to one of the richest real estate enterprises in Vietnam which is known for various architectural projects including luxury residences, offices, shopping malls and resorts. Fraud size has raised eyebrows among analysts at a time when Vietnam wants to position itself as an alternative location for manufacturers trying to cut back their supply chains from China. In 2023, about 1,300 property companies withdrew from Vietnam’s real estate.