Vietnamese Real Estate Tycoon Truong My Lan Faces New Financial Fraud Trial

Vietnamese real estate mogul Truong My Lan, already facing a death sentence, encounters new charges of financial fraud. The chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group is accused of extensive financial misconduct, including illegal bond issuance, money laundering, and large-scale illegal money transfers. Her month-long trial starts Thursday.

Vietnamese real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, already sentenced to death, faces new charges of financial fraud in a trial starting on Thursday, according to state media.

Lan, chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, is accused of obtaining property by fraud, money laundering, and illegal cross-border money transfers. She is part of a larger anti-corruption campaign, "Blazing Furnace," targeting high-profile business figures and state officials in Vietnam.

The Ho Chi Minh City trial is slated to last a month, involving 33 of Lan's alleged accomplices and expecting up to 1,000 attendees daily. Lan allegedly raised 30 trillion dong ($1.2 billion) through illegal bond issuance, transferred $4.5 billion in and out of Vietnam, and laundered 445 trillion dong ($18.1 billion). In April, she was sentenced to death for embezzlement, bribery, and banking violations in a separate 304 trillion dong fraud case.

(With inputs from agencies.)