HANOI, Vietnam, Dec 3, (AP): The death sentence for real estate tycoon Truong My Lan was upheld Tuesday in Vietnam's largest fraud case, the scale of which had raised concerns about the country's economy. She had been convicted in April of embezzlement and bribery over the fraud amounting to $12.5 billion, nearly 3% of Vietnam’s 2022 GDP.

As chairperson of the Van Thinh Phat real estate firm, Lan illegally controlled Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank between 2012 and 2022 and allowed 2,500 loans that cost the bank $27 billion in losses. The court in Ho Chi Minh rejected her appeal against the conviction while adding that her death sentence could be commuted to life if she reimburses three-fourth of the losses, working out to around $11 billion, state media reported.

Her lawyers argued that she had repaid the money but the court disagreed since there were legal issues with some of the seized properties and prosecuting agencies couldn't assess their value, VN Express reported. Lan's lawyers also noted several mitigating circumstances - she had admitted guilt, showed remorse and had paid back part of the amount. "I feel pained due to the waste of national resources,” she said last week, state media reported.

But the court said her violations had negatively impacted banking, caused public disorder and eroded people’s trust, VN Express said. Under Vietnamese law, death sentences aren't immediately carried out and there is an extended legal process, said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow in the Vietnam Studies Program at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

He added that Lan would seek another review of the case or a presidential pardon to reduce her sentence."Moreover, if she repays at least three-quarters of the misappropriated funds, the court may consider commuting her sentence to life imprisonment,” he said. Her arrest was among the most high-profile in an anti-corruption drive in Vietnam that intensified after 2022.