上周二,因数十亿美元诈骗案被判死刑的越南房地产大亨在法庭上恳求宽恕,声称她正在努力偿还窃取的款项。
今年早些时候,现年68岁的房地产开发商张美兰因侵吞西贡商业银行(Saigon Commercial Bank,SCB)公款被判定有罪。据检方称,西贡商业银行受她控制。因诈骗总额高达270亿美元,她被判处死刑,这是历史上最严重的腐败案件之一。
她正在胡志明市的一家法院对判决提出上诉,预计判决结果将在几天内公布。
在庭审的最后陈述中,张美兰表示:“我唯一的想法是如何偿还欠越南国家银行(State Bank of Vietnam,SBV)和人民的债务。我没有考虑对自己和家人造成的伤害。”
她表示,“我为浪费国家资源而感到痛心”,并补充说她对被指控此罪“感到非常羞愧”。
张美兰恳求法庭,“请重新考虑并减轻我的刑罚。”
根据越南法律,如果张美兰能主动归还四分之三的侵吞资产,并被判定为充分配合当局,她有可能免于死刑。
然而,检方在周一的庭审中表示,她并未满足上述条件,并强调其犯罪后果“巨大且史无前例”。
法庭辩论的关键点之一,是对张美兰个人财产的估算。
张美兰是房地产开发集团万盛发(Van Thinh Phat)的创始人。她在庭上表示,偿还窃取资金的“最快方式”是“清算西贡商业银行,并出售我们的资产以偿还越南国家银行和人民的债务”。
数万名将积蓄投资于西贡商业银行的储户蒙受了损失,这一事件震惊了越南这个共产主义国家,并引发了受害者罕见的抗议。周二,受害者再次在河内的越南国家银行门前示威。
越南国家银行在4月份表示,已向西贡商业银行注资以稳定该行,但并未透露具体金额。
在今年4月的首次审判中,张美兰被判贪污125亿美元,但检方指出,该诈骗案造成的总损失高达270亿美元,相当于越南2023年国内生产总值的6%左右。
在11月初开始的本次上诉中,共有47名其他被告请求减刑。
上个月,张美兰在另一起案件中被判洗钱罪,并被判处终身监禁。(财富中文网)
翻译:刘进龙
审校:汪皓
上周二,因数十亿美元诈骗案被判死刑的越南房地产大亨在法庭上恳求宽恕,声称她正在努力偿还窃取的款项。
今年早些时候,现年68岁的房地产开发商张美兰因侵吞西贡商业银行(Saigon Commercial Bank,SCB)公款被判定有罪。据检方称,西贡商业银行受她控制。因诈骗总额高达270亿美元,她被判处死刑,这是历史上最严重的腐败案件之一。
她正在胡志明市的一家法院对判决提出上诉,预计判决结果将在几天内公布。
在庭审的最后陈述中,张美兰表示:“我唯一的想法是如何偿还欠越南国家银行(State Bank of Vietnam,SBV)和人民的债务。我没有考虑对自己和家人造成的伤害。”
她表示,“我为浪费国家资源而感到痛心”,并补充说她对被指控此罪“感到非常羞愧”。
张美兰恳求法庭,“请重新考虑并减轻我的刑罚。”
根据越南法律,如果张美兰能主动归还四分之三的侵吞资产,并被判定为充分配合当局,她有可能免于死刑。
然而,检方在周一的庭审中表示,她并未满足上述条件,并强调其犯罪后果“巨大且史无前例”。
法庭辩论的关键点之一,是对张美兰个人财产的估算。
张美兰是房地产开发集团万盛发(Van Thinh Phat)的创始人。她在庭上表示,偿还窃取资金的“最快方式”是“清算西贡商业银行,并出售我们的资产以偿还越南国家银行和人民的债务”。
数万名将积蓄投资于西贡商业银行的储户蒙受了损失,这一事件震惊了越南这个共产主义国家,并引发了受害者罕见的抗议。周二,受害者再次在河内的越南国家银行门前示威。
越南国家银行在4月份表示,已向西贡商业银行注资以稳定该行,但并未透露具体金额。
在今年4月的首次审判中,张美兰被判贪污125亿美元,但检方指出,该诈骗案造成的总损失高达270亿美元,相当于越南2023年国内生产总值的6%左右。
在11月初开始的本次上诉中,共有47名其他被告请求减刑。
上个月,张美兰在另一起案件中被判洗钱罪,并被判处终身监禁。(财富中文网)
翻译:刘进龙
审校:汪皓
A Vietnamese property tycoon sentenced to death for multi-billion-dollar fraud begged a court to spare her life Tuesday, saying she was trying to repay the stolen funds.
Property developer Truong My Lan, 68, was convicted earlier this year of embezzling money from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) — which prosecutors said she controlled — and condemned to die for fraud totaling $27 billion in one of the biggest corruption cases in history.
She is appealing against her sentence at a court in Ho Chi Minh City, with the ruling expected in the coming days.
In her final remarks before the court, Lan said: “My only thought is on how to repay the debt to the SBV (State Bank of Vietnam) and the people. I don’t think about the damage to myself and my family.
“I feel pained due to the waste of national resources,” Lan said, adding she felt “very embarrassed to be charged with this crime”.
“Please reconsider and reduce my sentence,” she asked the court.
According to Vietnamese law, Lan could escape the death penalty if she proactively returns three-quarters of the embezzled assets and is judged to have co-operated sufficiently with authorities.
But prosecutors argued Monday that she had not met the conditions, and emphasised her crime’s consequences were “huge and without precedent”.
Among key points being debated in court is an estimate of Lan’s personal wealth.
Lan, who founded real estate development group Van Thinh Phat, told the court that “the quickest way” to repay the stolen funds would be “to liquidate SCB, and sell our assets to repay SBV and the people”.
Tens of thousands of people who had invested their savings in SCB lost money, shocking the communist nation and prompting rare protests from the victims — who demonstrated again on Tuesday outside the State Bank of Vietnam in Hanoi.
The State Bank said in April that it pumped funds into SCB to stabilise it, without revealing how much.
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 amounted to $27 billion — equivalent to around six percent of the country’s 2023 GDP.
A total of 47 other defendants have requested reduced sentences at the appeal, which began in early November.
Last month, Lan was convicted of money laundering and jailed for life in a separate case.