• Truong My Lan's life sentence reduced to 30 years after a successful appeal in a money laundering case.
• Lan was convicted of laundering $17.7 billion and engaging in fraudulent activities totaling $27 billion.
• The judge acknowledged her efforts to compensate victims in the ruling.

A Vietnamese property tycoon, Truong My Lan, has had her life sentence for laundering more than $17 billion reduced to 30 years following an appeal in Ho Chi Minh City, where she claimed the incidents were merely "an accident," according to CBS News.

Previously, Lan had unsuccessfully challenged the death penalty in a separate fraud case involving the Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), relating to fraud amassing approximately $27 billion. The appeal court had initially stated that there was insufficient basis to reduce her sentence, yet she could evade the death penalty by returning three-quarters of her embezzled assets, as reported by TRTGlobal.

During the court proceedings, the presiding judge, Pham Cong Muoi, stated that although Lan was the primary perpetrator, the court also considered her efforts to rectify the situation. These included repaying a quarter of the $1.2 billion fraudulently obtained from bond investors, reflecting her commitment to mitigate damages caused by her criminal activities, according to South China Morning Post.

In her closing remarks before the court, Lan expressed her regret for her actions, stating, "Since being jailed, I have tried my best… to seek the best solutions to deal with my projects and properties," indicating her remorse and desire to compensate the victims of her crimes, per Channel News Asia.

Initially found guilty in an April trial for embezzling $12.5 billion, the total damages attributed to her case were said to amount to around $27 billion, approximately 6% of Vietnam's GDP for the year 2023, as outlined in various reports. The court concluded that despite her holding only 5% of SCB shares nominally, she effectively controlled over 90% through her network of family and associates, which resulted in significant financial losses for numerous investors and caused widespread public protests, according to CBS News.