(Bloomberg) -- Vietnamese prosecutors sought the death penalty for real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, indicted in a $12 billion fraud case for her role in bribing government officials, violating bank lending rules and embezzling funds, VnExpress news website reported.

Prosecutors pushed for the maximum punishment for Lan, chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group, for defrauding the Saigon Commercial Bank between February 2018 and October 2022, in events that led to a run on the financial institution. The trial, which began at the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court on March 5, could last at least two months, local media have reported.

At Tuesday’s hearing, the prosecution argued that Lan deployed sophisticated methods and involved many people in a plot that caused serious and irreparable damage to the bank, VnExpress reported.

Prosecutors also proposed life sentences for: Do Thi Nhan, a former State Bank official, ex-SCB chairmen Dinh Van Thanh and Bui Anh Dung as well as Vo Tan Hoang Van, the bank’s former chief executive officer, the news website reported.

Lan’s husband, Hong Kong businessman Eric Chu, faces a possible sentence of as many as 12 years in prison, VnExpress said.

Representatives for Lan and other the defendants could not be immediately reached for comment.

(Updates with more details of the hearing.)

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