HO CHI MINH CITY: The appeal of a Vietnamese property tycoon convicted of money laundering began on Tuesday, three months after she lost a challenge against the death penalty in a separate case.
Property developer Truong My Lan was found guilty in April 2024 of stealing money from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) and sentenced to death for fraud amounting to $27 billion.
Lan appealed against that verdict and the court said there was no basis to reduce her sentence, but ruled that she could still escape the death penalty if she returned three quarters of the stolen assets.
Now she is appealing against the verdict from a second trial in October, in which she was sentenced to life in prison for three crimes.
On Tuesday Lan, now accustomed to high-profile hearings, chatted with police officers and looked relatively relaxed as she waited for the court to start in Ho Chi Minh City.
Her niece, who was handed a five-year prison term in October for fraudulent appropriation of property, sat behind her, flanked by officers.
It is the first time Lan is in the dock without her husband, Chu Nap Kee, who is not challenging a two-year sentence he was handed for money laundering in October.
The appeal will last until April 21 and Lan will be defended by eight lawyers, according to state media.
The 68-year-old was found guilty of laundering $17.7 billion and illegal cross-border trafficking of $4.5 billion.
She was also found guilty of bond fraud to the tune of $1.2 billion.
The court determined that Lan was “the mastermind, committed the crime with sophisticated methods, many times, causing especially serious consequences.”
Thirty-three other defendants were also sentenced at the court in Ho Chi Minh City and given terms ranging from two to 23 years in prison.
Twenty-seven of them are appealing against their sentences, state media said.
During her first trial in April, Lan was found guilty of embezzling $12.5 billion but prosecutors said the total damages caused by the scam totaled $27 billion – equivalent to around six percent of the country’s 2023 GDP.
Lan owned just five percent of shares in SCB on paper but at her trial the court concluded that she effectively controlled more than 90 percent through family, friends and staff.
Tens of thousands of people who had invested their savings in the bank lost money, shocking the communist nation and prompting rare protests from the victims.
Vietnam death row tycoon begins appeal in $17.7 billion money-laundering case
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Vietnam death row tycoon begins appeal in $17.7 billion money-laundering case
- Property developer Truong My Lan was found guilty in April 2024 of stealing money from Saigon Commercial Bank
- She was sentenced to death for fraud amounting to $27 billion, but appealed against that verdict
Russia accuses Ukraine of attacking its energy facilities in past 24 hours
The ministry said Ukraine attacked a gas metering station in Kursk region and power facilities in Belgorod, and tried to hit an oil refinery in the Saratov region. Reuters could not immediately confirm its account.
King Charles III experiences side effects after receiving medical treatment and is in hospital
- Charles, 76, has been undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer for more than a year
- King has continued fulfilling state duties, such as reviewing government papers and meeting with PM
LONDON: Britain's King Charles III was hospitalized for observation on Thursday after experiencing “temporary side effects,’’ related to a scheduled cancer treatment, Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
His engagements for Thursday afternoon and Friday were canceled.
“His majesty has now returned to Clarence House and as a precautionary measure, acting on medical advice, tomorrow’s diary program will also be rescheduled,’’ the palace said. “His majesty would like to send his apologies to all those who may be inconvenienced or disappointed as a result.’’
Charles, 76, has been undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer for more than a year. The king has continued fulfilling his state duties, such as reviewing government papers and meeting with the prime minister, even though he took some time off public duties.
Beijing says Philippines should not start conflict in South China Sea
- Ministry spokesperson: Cooperation between the US and the Philippines should not target third parties
BEIJING: The Philippines should not start a conflict in the South China Sea with US support, China’s foreign ministry said on Friday.
Cooperation between the US and the Philippines should not target third parties, ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular press conference, when asked about US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s remarks on Friday saying that the two countries should strengthen deterrence against threats, including Chinese “aggression.”
“I would like to emphasize there has never been a problem with freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea,” Guo said.
Powerful earthquakes rock Thailand and Myanmar, triggering the collapse of a Bangkok high-rise
- The epicenter was about 17.2 km from the city of Mandalay, which has a population about 1.2 million, according to USGS
BANGKOK: A high-rise building under construction in Bangkok collapsed after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked Thailand and neighboring Myanmar midday on Friday, police said, and possible casualties are not yet known.
A dramatic video circulated on social media showed the multi-story building with a crane on top collapsing into a cloud of dust, while onlookers screamed and ran.
Police told The Associated Press they were responding to the scene near Bangkok’s popular Chatuchak Market, and had no immediate information on how many workers were on the site at the time of the collapse.
The midday temblor was followed by a strong 6.4 magnitude aftershock, and people in Bangkok evacuated from their buildings were cautioned to stay outside in case there were more.
“All of a sudden the whole building began to move, immediately there was screaming and a lot of panic,” said Fraser Morton, a tourist from Scotland, who was in one of Bangkok’s many malls shopping for camera equipment.
“I just started walking calmly at first but then the building started really moving, yeah, a lot of screaming, a lot of panic, people running the wrong way down the escalators, lots of banging and crashing inside the mall.”
Like thousands of others in downtown Bangkok, Morton sought refuge in Benjasiri Park — away from the tall buildings all around.
“I got outside and then looked up at the building and the whole building was moving, dust and debris, it was pretty intense,” he said. “Lots of chaos.”
The US Geological Survey and Germany’s GFZ center for geosciences said the earthquake was a shallow 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), with an epicenter in Myanmar, according to preliminary reports.
In Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city and close to the epicenter, the earthquake damaged part of the former royal palace and buildings, according to videos and photos released on Facebook social media.
While the area is prone to earthquakes, it is generally sparsely populated, and most houses are low-rise structures.
In the Sagaing region just southwest of Mandalay, a 90-year-old bridge collapsed, and some sections of the highway connecting Mandalay and Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, were also damaged.
Residents in Yangon rushed out of their homes when the quake struck. There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths.
In the capital Naypyitaw, the quake damaged religious shrines, sending parts toppling to the ground, and some homes.
In Bangkok, alarms went off in buildings as the earthquake hit around 1:30 p.m., and startled residents were evacuated down staircases of high-rise condominiums and hotels.
The greater Bangkok area is home to more than 17 million people, many of whom live in high-rise apartments.
Water from high-rise rooftop pools sloshed over the side as they shook, and debris fell from many buildings as the long-lasting earthquake rattled the city.
“I have experienced earthquakes twice before in Myanmar, but that was only one second, one big bang, but here it went on for at least, I’d say, a minute,” said Zsuzsanna Vari-Kovacs, a Hungarian resident of Bangkok, who had just finished eating at a restaurant when the quake hit.
“My husband was in a high-rise, I think that’s even worse.”
Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention said the quake was felt in almost all regions of the country.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra called an emergency meeting to assess the impact of the quake.
US Vice President Vance to visit Greenland, the island Trump wants to control
- Russia is winner in this dispute between NATO allies -analyst
- Original plan had triggered spat with Greenland, Denmark
NUUK: US Vice President JD Vance will visit Greenland on Friday at a time when President Donald Trump is renewing his insistence that Washington should take control of the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
In a scaled-back version of a trip plan that had angered authorities in both Greenland and Denmark, Vance was expected to fly to the US military base at Pituffik in the north of the Arctic island.
Under the terms of a 1951 agreement, the US is entitled to visit its base whenever it wants, as long as it notifies Greenland and Copenhagen.
The initial plan had been for Vance’s wife, Usha, to visit a popular dog-sled race together with national security adviser Mike Waltz, even though they were not invited by authorities in either Greenland or Denmark.
Waltz, who has faced pressure over Trump administration officials’ discussion of sensitive Houthi attack plans on the Signal messaging app, will still be on the Greenland trip, according to a White House source.
Greenland’s acting Prime Minister Mute Egede called the visit a provocation as the country has not yet formed a new government after a March 11 election.
Public broadcaster KNR reported on Thursday, without identifying its sources, that a pro-business party that emerged as the winner of the election will present a broad coalition on Friday.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the US visit “unacceptable” although Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen welcomed news of the revised visit as a positive, de-escalating step.
By changing the trip, the Trump administration is seeking to refocus the discussion on the topics it is interested in: the US presence on Greenland, military capabilities available, and the wider security of the Arctic, said Catherine Sendak, head of the Transatlantic Defense and Security program at the Center for European Policy Analysis, a Washington-based think tank.
“A change of course was needed,” Sendak told Reuters. “It is positive, given the very public back and forth between the Danish and Greenland governments and the Trump administration about the intent of the initial visit.”
Still, Trump reiterated his desire to take over Greenland, saying the US needs the strategically located island for national and international security.
“So, I think we’ll go as far as we have to go. We need Greenland and the world needs us to have Greenland, including Denmark,” he said on Wednesday.
Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen condemned what he called Trump’s escalated rhetoric.
Who benefits from dispute?
The question now is how far Trump is willing to push his idea of taking over the island, said Andreas Oesthagen, a senior researcher on Arctic politics and security at the Oslo-based Fridtjof Nansen Institute.
“It is still unlikely that the United States will use military means to try to get full control over Greenland,” he told Reuters.
That would break with many fundamental principles and rules that the US has benefited from and has been a pillar for, he said.
“But it is unfortunately likely that President Trump and Vice President Vance will continue to use other means of pressure, such as ambiguous statements, semi-official visits to Greenland, and economic instruments,” he added.
“And the real winner in this unnecessary drama is Russia, who gets exactly what they want: discord in the transatlantic relationship.”
Tom Dans, a former member of the US Arctic Research Commission during Trump’s first presidency, said Vance’s visit would help the Trump administration understand where it can collaborate further with Greenland.
“They’re trying to put the picture together for the future and understand where the best intersections are going to be for US policy and investments to help Greenland,” Dans, a businessman, told Reuters.
