Vietnamese real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, who masterminded a US$12.5 billion banking fraud, has avoided the gallows after the government on Wednesday scrapped the death penalty for eight crimes ...

Property developer Truong My Lan’s lawyer Giang Hong Thanh told AFP that her death penalty “will be converted to life imprisonment... I informed Ms Lan this morning, she is very happy”.

Truong My Lan had her appeal against the death penalty dismissed last year as she scrambled to repay billions of dollars, but law changes in Vietnam might have saved her life.

Foreign firms back $10 billion SCB restructuring tied to Truong My Lan caseVan Thinh Phat-led investors pledge billions to fix SCB and repay massive fraud damages.