越南房地產(chǎn)大亨因欺詐總額高達(dá)270億美元被判處死刑。她從周一開始對這一判決提出上訴,請求法院考慮給予更為寬容和人道的刑罰。
今年早些時候,時年68歲的房地產(chǎn)開發(fā)商張美蘭因從西貢股份商業(yè)銀行(SCB,檢方稱她控制了該銀行)騙取巨額現(xiàn)金而被定罪,并在這起史上最大規(guī)模的腐敗案件中被判處死刑。
數(shù)以萬計將積蓄存入該銀行的人血本無歸,這一事件震驚了越南這個共產(chǎn)主義國家,并引發(fā)了受害者罕見的抗議活動。
周一,身穿藍(lán)色襯衫的張美蘭在戒備森嚴(yán)的情況下被帶到胡志明市的法庭。
據(jù)官方媒體報道,在為期三周的上訴期間,法院將審查張美蘭的減刑請求以及其他47名被告的請求,將有100名律師參與。
張美蘭還提出了免除2650萬美元訴訟費用的請求。
聽證會開始時,約有十多人在河內(nèi)一家西貢股份商業(yè)銀行分行外舉行了小規(guī)模抗議活動,要求賠償受害者。
在法新社看到的張美蘭長達(dá)五頁的手寫上訴書中,她表示死刑判決“過于嚴(yán)厲和苛刻”。
她要求法庭考慮采取更為“寬容和人道的方式”。
上訴書中寫道:“出于我對商業(yè)的熱忱,以及為越南打造世界級項目以貢獻(xiàn)社會的愿望,我極大地犧牲了個人及家庭的幸福?!?/p>
張美蘭說,負(fù)面輿論的壓力讓她備受煎熬。
張美蘭說:“每天晚上我仍然感到煎熬,思索著為什么我和我的家人會陷入如此境地?!?/p>
上個月,張美蘭在另一起案件中被判洗錢罪,并被判處終身監(jiān)禁。
偽造貸款申請
在今年四月的一審中,張美蘭被判犯有挪用公款罪,涉案金額高達(dá)125億美元。然而,據(jù)檢察官披露,這起案件造成的損失總額高達(dá)270億美元,相當(dāng)于該國2023年國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值的6%左右。
法院判決張美蘭支付幾乎全部的賠償金。
其中一名受害者,時年84歲的樂航(Le Hang,音譯)告訴法新社,盡管她因詐騙損失了50多萬美元,但她不希望張美蘭因此喪命。
“她必須活著彌補她所做的一切,償還像我這樣的受害者。”樂航說,她經(jīng)常參加在胡志明市法院前舉行的抗議活動。
“我希望她能繼續(xù)活在世上?!?/p>
另外85人也因賄賂、濫用職權(quán)、挪用公款和違反銀行法規(guī)等罪名被判刑。
他們是在被稱為“烈火熔爐”的全國反腐行動中被捕的,這場行動波及了越南眾多官員和商界精英。
法院查明,在2012年至2022年這十年間,張美蘭通過近1300份偽造的貸款申請,從她持有90%股份的西貢股份商業(yè)銀行非法提取了巨額資金。
官方媒體援引警方的調(diào)查報道稱,她的司機將相當(dāng)于44億美元的現(xiàn)金從西貢股份商業(yè)銀行位于胡志明市的總部轉(zhuǎn)移至張美蘭附近的住所及其控制的房地產(chǎn)開發(fā)集團越南萬盛發(fā)集團(Van Thinh Phat)的總部。(財富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:中慧言-王芳
越南房地產(chǎn)大亨因欺詐總額高達(dá)270億美元被判處死刑。她從周一開始對這一判決提出上訴,請求法院考慮給予更為寬容和人道的刑罰。
今年早些時候,時年68歲的房地產(chǎn)開發(fā)商張美蘭因從西貢股份商業(yè)銀行(SCB,檢方稱她控制了該銀行)騙取巨額現(xiàn)金而被定罪,并在這起史上最大規(guī)模的腐敗案件中被判處死刑。
數(shù)以萬計將積蓄存入該銀行的人血本無歸,這一事件震驚了越南這個共產(chǎn)主義國家,并引發(fā)了受害者罕見的抗議活動。
周一,身穿藍(lán)色襯衫的張美蘭在戒備森嚴(yán)的情況下被帶到胡志明市的法庭。
據(jù)官方媒體報道,在為期三周的上訴期間,法院將審查張美蘭的減刑請求以及其他47名被告的請求,將有100名律師參與。
張美蘭還提出了免除2650萬美元訴訟費用的請求。
聽證會開始時,約有十多人在河內(nèi)一家西貢股份商業(yè)銀行分行外舉行了小規(guī)模抗議活動,要求賠償受害者。
在法新社看到的張美蘭長達(dá)五頁的手寫上訴書中,她表示死刑判決“過于嚴(yán)厲和苛刻”。
她要求法庭考慮采取更為“寬容和人道的方式”。
上訴書中寫道:“出于我對商業(yè)的熱忱,以及為越南打造世界級項目以貢獻(xiàn)社會的愿望,我極大地犧牲了個人及家庭的幸福?!?/p>
張美蘭說,負(fù)面輿論的壓力讓她備受煎熬。
張美蘭說:“每天晚上我仍然感到煎熬,思索著為什么我和我的家人會陷入如此境地?!?/p>
上個月,張美蘭在另一起案件中被判洗錢罪,并被判處終身監(jiān)禁。
偽造貸款申請
在今年四月的一審中,張美蘭被判犯有挪用公款罪,涉案金額高達(dá)125億美元。然而,據(jù)檢察官披露,這起案件造成的損失總額高達(dá)270億美元,相當(dāng)于該國2023年國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值的6%左右。
法院判決張美蘭支付幾乎全部的賠償金。
其中一名受害者,時年84歲的樂航(Le Hang,音譯)告訴法新社,盡管她因詐騙損失了50多萬美元,但她不希望張美蘭因此喪命。
“她必須活著彌補她所做的一切,償還像我這樣的受害者?!睒泛秸f,她經(jīng)常參加在胡志明市法院前舉行的抗議活動。
“我希望她能繼續(xù)活在世上?!?/p>
另外85人也因賄賂、濫用職權(quán)、挪用公款和違反銀行法規(guī)等罪名被判刑。
他們是在被稱為“烈火熔爐”的全國反腐行動中被捕的,這場行動波及了越南眾多官員和商界精英。
法院查明,在2012年至2022年這十年間,張美蘭通過近1300份偽造的貸款申請,從她持有90%股份的西貢股份商業(yè)銀行非法提取了巨額資金。
官方媒體援引警方的調(diào)查報道稱,她的司機將相當(dāng)于44億美元的現(xiàn)金從西貢股份商業(yè)銀行位于胡志明市的總部轉(zhuǎn)移至張美蘭附近的住所及其控制的房地產(chǎn)開發(fā)集團越南萬盛發(fā)集團(Van Thinh Phat)的總部。(財富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:中慧言-王芳
The appeal of a Vietnamese property tycoon sentenced to death for fraud totalling $27 billion began on Monday after she pleaded for a more “l(fā)enient and humane” sentence.
Property developer Truong My Lan, 68, was convicted earlier this year of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) — which prosecutors said she controlled — and given the death sentence in one of the biggest corruption cases in history.
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.
Lan, wearing a blue shirt, was brought to court in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday under tight security.
The court will review Lan’s request for a reduced sentence, along with that of 47 other defendants, during a three-week appeal attended by 100 lawyers, state media said.
Lan has also asked to be let off a $26.5 milllion court fee.
As the hearing began, around a dozen people staged a small protest outside an SCB branch in Hanoi, demanding the victims be repaid.
In her handwritten appeal of more than five pages seen by AFP, Lan said that the death sentence was “too severe and harsh”.
She asked the court to consider a more “l(fā)enient and humane approach”.
“Because of my passion for business and the desire to build and contribute through creating world-class projects for Vietnam, I have traded and sacrificed a lot of happiness for myself and my family,” the appeal stated.
Lan said she had suffered due to the pressure of negative public opinion.
“Every night I still feel tormented and wonder why my family and I are in this situation,” Lan said.
The appeal comes after Lan was convicted of money laundering and jailed for life in a separate case last month.
Fake loan applications
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.
The court ordered Lan to pay almost the entire damages sum in compensation.
One of the victims, Le Hang, 84, told AFP that even though she lost more than half a million dollars through the fraud, she did not want Lan to die.
“She must live to fix what she has done and repay people like me,” said Hang, who has regularly attended protests in front of the Ho Chi Minh City court.
“I hope she survives.”
Eighty-five others were also sentenced on charges ranging from bribery and abuse of power to appropriation and violations of banking law.
They were arrested as part of a national corruption crackdown dubbed the “burning furnace” that has swept up numerous officials and members of Vietnam’s business elite.
Between 2012 and 2022, Lan used nearly 1,300 fake loan applications to withdraw money from SCB, in which she owned a 90 percent stake, the court found.
Her driver transported the equivalent of more than $4.4 billion in cash from SCB’s headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City to her nearby home and the head offices of her real estate development group Van Thinh Phat, state media reported, citing the police investigation.