Tycoon facing death penalty has her jail term cut to 30 years in $17 billion Vietnam money laundering case

A Vietnamese property tycoon who was jailed for life in a $17 billion money laundering case had her sentence cut to 30 years on appeal on Monday after she claimed what happened was "an accident."

Property developer Truong My Lan had already lost a challenge against the death penalty in a separate case in which she was found guilty in April last year of stealing money from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) and fraud amounting to $27 billion.

The appeal court ruled there was no basis to reduce her sentence but said she could still escape the death penalty if she returned three-quarters of the stolen assets. That means she could still avoid execution if she returns $9 billion, or three-quarters of the $12 billion she embezzled, the BBC reported.