Vietnam Sentences Lan to Death Over Fraud. 

Last Week, the Vietnamese real estate magnate Troung My Lan was sentenced to death after being found guilty in a massive financial fraud trial. Vietnam is a country that has been plagued by corruption, particularly in and around the COVID-19 pandemic.  According to an AP report, Lan was illegally involved with the Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank and set up 2,500 loans, which caused the bank to lose $27 billion. Lan grew famous in Vietnam by founding the real estate firm Van Thinh Phat.  The Ho Chi Minh City court leveled such a harsh sentence because Lan was at the head of a well-organized criminal network, and there was no chance of her repaying the court-ordered $26 million to the bank.  According to Al Jazeera, her lawyers have 15 days to appeal the death sentence.