A court in Vietnam on Thursday handed a life sentence to real estate tycoon Truong My Lan on financial fraud charges, after she was sentenced to death in April in a separate trial.

Lan, the chairwoman of real estate developer Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, was found guilty of obtaining property by fraud, money laundering and illegal cross-border money transfers, according to state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper.

The judges said Lan acknowledged many of her offenses but refuted allegations she had directed the bond issuance, Tuoi Tre reported.

Thirty-three individuals tried with her in the second trial, including her husband and niece, have been handed down sentences ranging from two to 23 years of imprisonment.

The 67-year-old received the death penalty in April, convicted of orchestrating Vietnam's biggest-ever financial fraud case, amounting to $12.5 billion – nearly three percent of the country's 2022 GDP – and for illegally controlling the Saigon Commercial Bank, allowing loans that resulted in losses of $27 billion.

(With input from agencies)