Vietnamese real estate tycoon, already sentenced to death for fraud, faces trial on new charges

Associated Press

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnamese state media say the second trial for real estate tycoon Truong My Lan — who was sentenced to death for financial fraud in April — started on Thursday.  The 67-year-old chairperson of the real estate company Van Thinh Phat was convicted for orchestrating Vietnam’s biggest ever financial fraud case in a sweeping anti-corruption drive in the communist-ruled country. She is now being tried on fresh charges of appropriating property fraudulently and money laundering. Lan and her family established the Van Thing Phat company in 1992 after Vietnam shifted from a state-run economy to a more market-oriented approach that was open to foreign investors. It became one of Vietnam’s richest real estate firms.