AMN
The trial in Vietnam’s largest financial fraud case on record began today, with nearly 90 defendants accused of being part of a 12 billion dollar scam, for which some of them risk the death penalty. Real estate tycoon Truong My Lan and her accomplices are accused of siphoning off over 12 billion dollars from the country’s largest bank Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank. In addition to charges of embezzlement, Lan is also accused of giving bribes and of breaching banking regulations. The trial, expected to last until the end of April at the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City, is part of a much wider campaign against corruption in the country.