HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The unusually harsh death sentence given to a real estate tycoon in Vietnam was a pivotal moment in the decadelong “Blazing Furnace” anti-corruption campaign as the Vietnamese business community wrestled with an uncertain future Friday.
Real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, who was sentenced to death Thursday by a court in Ho Chi Minh city for orchestrating the country’s largest ever financial fraud case, was one of Vietnam's most important businesspeople for years. She has been convicted for fraud amounting to $12.5 billion — nearly 3% of the country’s 2022 GDP — and for illegally controlling a major bank and allowing loans that resulted in losses of $27 billion, state media outlets reported.
Vietnam typically gives death penalties crimes like terrorism or murder and, according to Amnesty International, has among the highest rates of capital punishment worldwide. But a death sentence for a financial crime is rare in the country.
Thursday's sentencing marked a “big turning point” in the ongoing anti-corruption drive in Vietnam, said Nguyen Khac Giang, an analyst at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
“It signals that the party's commitment to a crackdown on corruption has … expanded," he said.
The Communist Party's so-called Blazing Furnace campaign began in 2013, but it wasn’t until 2018 that authorities began scanning the private sector. Since then, several owners of Vietnam's fast-growing businesses have been arrested. The trial for Trinh Van Quyet — the former chair of the real estate company FLC, which also owns Vietnam's third-largest airline, Bamboo Airways — will likely be heard next. He was arrested in 2022. Giang said Lan’s trial was “an example” for upcoming cases.
The anti-corruption campaign is a hallmark of Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam’s top politician. The 79-year-old ideologue views corruption as a grave threat facing the party and has vowed that the campaign will be a “blazing furnace” where no one is untouchable.
It's making foreign investors jittery while dampening Vietnam’s economic outlook at a time when the country has been positioning itself as the ideal home for businesses looking to shift their supply chains away from China. Vietnam already lost two presidents in a little over a year and the country’s bureaucracy has ground to a halt with terrified officials choosing to do nothing lest they be in the crosshairs.
Lan's death sentence sent “shockwaves” across the Vietnamese business community, creating a “sense of uncertainty” about the future, said Giang.
The real estate sector in particular is floundering. An estimated 1,300 property firms withdrew from the market in 2023 and high-rises lie empty in major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. Add to this poor global demand and reduced public investment slowing Vietnam’s economic growth down to 5.05% last year, compared to 8.02% in 2022, according to government data.
Meanwhile, despite the long campaign against graft, public opinion about corruption in Vietnam remains mixed, according to an annual survey built on interviews with nearly 20,000 people known as the Vietnam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index. It found that, while fewer people were asked for bribes, the number of people who felt the government was serious about fighting corruption had actually dipped in 2023 from the previous year.
Giang said that these were now “uncharted waters” for Vietnam, making it impossible to predict what lay next.
"We haven’t really seen anything like this before,” he said.
Defendants attend a trial for their involvement in a $12.5 billion fraud case in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Thursday, April 11, 2024. Businesswoman Truong My Lan may face the death penalty if convicted of allegations that she siphoned off the amount, nearly 3 percent of Vietnam's 2022 GDP, in its largest financial fraud case. (Thanh Tung/ VNExpress via AP).
Business woman Truong My Lan attends a trial in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Thursday, April 11, 2024. The real estate tycoon may face the death penalty if convicted of allegations that she siphoned off an amount of $12.5 billion, nearly 3 percent of Vietnam's 2022 GDP, in its largest financial fraud case. (Thanh Tung/VnExpress via AP)
Business woman Truong My Lan, center, attends a trial in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Thursday, April 11, 2024. The real estate tycoon may face the death penalty if convicted of allegations that she siphoned off an amount of $12.5 billion, nearly 3 percent of Vietnam's 2022 GDP, in its largest financial fraud case. (Thanh Tung/VnExpress via AP)
PHOENIX (AP) — Christian Walker homered twice, including a two-run drive in the 10th inning that gave the Arizona Diamondbacks a bee-delayed 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.
A bee swarm atop the netting behind home plate caused a delay of nearly two hours as players and fans waited for a beekeeper to remove the colony. Players tried to keep busy in the indoor batting cage and clubhouse to kill time while they waited for the bees to be removed.
“It was weird, but props to the guys for shutting it down and then getting it back on and being ready to play," Walker said.
The activity in the game didn't pick up until late.
Gabriel Moreno hit a tying single for Arizona in the eighth, but Los Angeles reliever Nabil Crismatt (1-1) worked a perfect ninth to send it to extra innings.
The Dodgers loaded the bases against Scott McGough (1-3) in the 10th, and Will Smith drove in Gavin Lux with a sacrifice fly for a one-run lead.
Walker at first was going to go up looking to try to move the automatic runner from second to third, but Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo told him to end the game instead. Walker wasted no more time buzzing around, launching Crismatt's third pitch of the 10th into the left-field seats to set off a wild celebration at Chase Field.
“That was a little bit of edge that I needed, otherwise maybe trying to use the middle of the field, move a runner to third base right there,” Walker said. “I think that a little bit of freedom and forgiveness helped me.”
The Diamondbacks opted to switch gears after the long wait, sending out left-hander Brandon Hughes instead of scheduled starter Jordan Montgomery, who had gone through his full warmup before the delay was announced.
Los Angeles stuck with Landon Knack and he gave up a solo homer to Walker in the fourth — the only run the right-hander allowed on three hits in five innings.
The Dodgers loaded the bases against Justin Martinez in the fifth and tied the game on Joe Mantiply's wild pitch. A balk by Mantiply scored Smith from third to make it 2-1 in the sixth.
But the Diamondbacks rallied late, earning a much-needed win on a bizarre night at the ballpark.
“One of my buddies texted me a Google screenshot of honeybees and how they’re a sign of good luck from ancient times,” Hughes said after making his first career start in his Arizona debut. “And it was actually like a little bit deeper, how they use teamwork and cooperation. I mean, that was a a full team win right there.”
TRAINER'S ROOM
Dodgers: RHP Walker Buehler (elbow) allowed a run and seven hits in five innings during a rehab start for Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Diamondbacks: LHP Kyle Nelson was transferred to the 60-day injured list and will have surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. Arizona selected Hughes' contract from Triple-A Reno to take Nelson's spot and optioned LHP Tommy Henry to the minors after Monday night's game.
UP NEXT
Arizona RHP Zac Gallen (3-2, 3.38 ERA) is cleared to pitch in Wednesday's series finale after leaving his last start with right hamstring soreness. He'll face RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2-1, 3.54), making his sixth start since signing with the Dodgers out of Japan.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Arizona Diamondbacks' Christian Walker rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Arizona Diamondbacks Christian Walker runs after hitting his two run walk-off home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 10th inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Bee keeper Matt Hilton throws out the ceremonial first pitch prior to a baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Phoenix. Hilton removed a swarm of bees on the net behind home plate that delayed the start of the game. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani follows through on a base hit against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning of an MLB baseball game, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)
A swarm of bees gather on the net behind home plate delaying the start of a baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)
A bee keeper removes a swarm of bees gathered on the net behind home plate delaying the start of a baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Arizona Diamondbacks' Christian Walker (53) celebrates his two run walk-off home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 10th inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Arizona Diamondbacks' Christian Walker (53) celebrates his two run walk-off home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 10th inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)
