let's turn to the story of truong my lan who has been sentenced to death in vietnam.as found guilty of looting one of the country's largest banks over a period of 11 years. the bbc�*s southeast asia correspondentjonathan head breaks down the highly—publicised case. it's long been clear the communist authorities in vietnam wanted to make an example of truong my lan, the 67—year—old property tycoon at the centre of this truly massive banking fraud. they encouraged extensive publicity about the trial, giving every last detail about the case against her and the 85 other to vietnamese journalists. now, by opposing the death penalty on her — which is rarely done to women in vietnam — the government seems to be sending out a warning to others, hoping to deter those who might be dabbling in fraud and corruption. now, this is just the latest, although most spectacular, chapter in the long—running anti—corruption campaign known in vietnam as blazing furnaces, led by the veteran communist party chief nguyen phu trong, under which hundreds of state officials have already been eit

but it raises real questions over how truong my real questions over how truong my lan was able to looti the largest banks in the country for 11 years with nobody trying to stop her. prosecutors have outlined the elaborate network of shell companies and proxies through which she concealed her control of the bank and allowed her to final out thousands of loans with a total of $aa billion. but it is clear that state officials were all too easily bribed to look the other way and the banking regulations are definitely inadequate in vietnam. now over to japan, because it's that time of the year when visitors to the country are treated to a world famous display of nature with cherry blossom trees in full bloom. it's a big tourism draw for the country, which welcomed nearly 3 million visitors in february. that's a 7% increase compared with the same month back in 2019 — before covid restrictions were enforced. the weakness in the japanese currency is also an attraction for visitors, according to kumi kato, a tourism professor at wa kayama university. tanami or cherry ta nami or cherry blossom v

truong my lan is accused of swindling billions of dollars from the saigon commercial bank over a decadeeek—long trial in ho chi minh city has attracted huge media attention in the communist—run nation. let's speak to our south east asia correspondent jonathan head who's in bangkok. the numbers, the figures involved in this case are astounding. including the numbers of which he is accused of defrauding the bank? the? of defrauding the bank? they certainly are _ of defrauding the bank? they certainly are i _ of defrauding the bank? they certainly are i look _ of defrauding the bank? they certainly are i look back - of defrauding the bank? tie: certainly are i look back and this is probably the biggest bank fraud ever recorded anywhere in the world, if these numbers given by the prosecution are correct, they have been investigating the bank for a year and a half, they have a dossier six tons of documents to submit, and the prosecution have overloaded the media with enormous details about how the fraud was carried out, an intricate network of she“ out, an intricate network of shell companie

the authorities have blamed truong my the authorities have blamed truong my lan and talked about thewhich she was bribing officials and the sophistication of this network. it is part of an ongoing anti—corruption campaign that has been going several years led by the communist authorities who say they are determined to stamp it out, but it raises a lot of questions. i was at this very high—profile woman, she is one of the biggest property owners in vietnam, how was he able to do that for ii owners in vietnam, how was he able to do that for 11 years? officially the authorities say she was paying off this person and hiding this and that but it is extraordinary it went on for ii that but it is extraordinary it went on for 11 years without being stopped and those questions still hang over whether the vietnamese authorities are capable of reining in this kind of fraud. you authorities are capable of reining in this kind of fraud.— in this kind of fraud. you say this was a trial— in this kind of fraud. you say this was a trial that _ in this kind of fraud. you say this was a trial that was

public anger about corruption in general at official levels which is very high in vietnam, to truong my lanomething about it, and that is why this case is such a high—profile case. she was the only one of the 86 defendants who denied the charges to the very end but she can now appeal against the death sentence and may get leniency if she follows the court injunction, the court has asked to find and give back a lot of the money that is missing, around $27 billion is unaccounted for.— unaccounted for. what is the reaction to — unaccounted for. what is the reaction to her— unaccounted for. what is the reaction to her being - unaccounted for. what is the reaction to her being given i unaccounted for. what is the i reaction to her being given the death penalty? the reaction to her being given the death penalty?— reaction to her being given the death penalty? reaction to her being given the death enal ? ~ ., death penalty? the likelihood of it bein: death penalty? the likelihood of it being carried _ death penalty? the likelihood of it being carried out _ death penalty? the likelihood of it being

an intricate network of shell companies and proxies that truong my lan used essentially to control the the biggest banks in the country — and then getting her own managers in. she bribed central bank officials as well to make sure that she was never stopped. and simply awarded herself and her shell companies $aa billion in loans. and the prosecutors say their assessment is that $27 billion of those are unrecoverable, lost money. nothing is being said about how much it's going to cost the state bank to save saigon commercial bank, this bank that she controlled. but it's thought that it will put a severe strain on vietnam's finances just to bail this bank out. it's absolutely staggering. and it's being made very much a kind of show trial, i think, as an example, because we are in the middle, actually eight years into a long anti—corruption campaign that has been launched by the communist leadership in vietnam. we will bring you that verdict as we take you across a story throughout the day. to south korea next. the liberal opposition party has won a landslide majority in the country's gen

defrauding the saigon commercial bank of more than $40 billion over a ten—year period. 67—year—old truong my lanfficials and violating bank lending regulations. 85 other people were also prosecuted, as part of a widespread clampdown on corruption by vietnam's communist authorities. our south east asia correspondent, jonathan head, is in bangkok. it is extraordinary. the amounts of money are absolutely staggering. we're talking about a significant chunk of vietnam's gdp that this woman was able to siphon off over 11 years through these secretly channeled loans that went through a whole bunch of front companies and proxies to her own companies. the prosecutors believe that of that 44 billion, perhaps $27 billion may never be recovered. that is a staggering loss and will be very, very tough for the state bank to make up in terms of saving the bank. really, the authorities have sort of blamed her and have talked about the way in which she was bribing officials and the kind of sophistication of this this network. and really, it is part of an ongoing anti—corruption campaign that's been going for seve

the judges found truong my lan guilty of using her hidden ownership of the bank to take out $44 billioncovered. fake stamps circulating in the uk are coming from china — that's what a senior mp has told the bbc. it follows a rise in complaints that some stamps bought from legitimate shops have been found to be counterfeit. anyone who receives an item of post with a fake stamp is charged £5, though royal mail says the number in circulation is relatively low. our business correspondent theo leggett is with me. thanks, jane. can you tell the difference between these two stamps? they look the same, but the one on the left is real, the one on the right is fake. tricky, isn't it? and customers keep getting caught out. two years ago, barcodes were put on stamps to make detecting fakes easier. but when the system finds a fake, the person receiving the card or letter is charged £5 to collect it. unwelcome, obviously. so where are fake stamps coming from? well, they're widely available online. experts say many of them come from china. and chinese firms may be acting with the tacit approval of the