Truong My Lan, a well-known Vietnamese businesswoman, has been sentenced to death for her involvement in a massive financial fraud case amounting to $12.5 billion, nearly 3% of the country's 2022 GDP. This shocking development highlights the country's intensifying anti-corruption drive and the risks associated with wealth and power in the emerging market. This news also sheds light on Lan's rise from selling cosmetics in a market to becoming the chairwoman of one of the country's richest real estate firms, and her marriage to Hong Kong investor Eric Chu Nap-kee. This is a rare occurrence of a death sentence being handed out in a financial crime case in Vietnam, adding to the gravity of the situation.