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

The leaders of a sex-focused women's wellness company that promoted "orgasmic meditation" were found guilty Monday in what has been described as an abusive scheme to coerce their employees into performing traumatic and demeaning tasks with little or no pay, authorities said. A Brooklyn jury deliberated for less than two days before convicting Nicole Daedone, 57, and Rachel Cherwitz, 44, on federal forced labor charges, following a five-week trial.

Smuggler traveling from Thailand stopped with tarantulas, possums, lizards, authorities in India say
Indian customs officers made the latest "significant" seizure of endangered wildlife from a passenger arriving from Thailand, a government statement said: nearly 100 creatures including lizards, sunbirds and tree-climbing possums.

Some of the victims of the U.S. Capitol siege are angry about the Trump administration's public statements and response to this weekend's unrest in Los Angeles, accusing top officials and the president of hypocrisy. They point to the stark difference between the aggressive response of the president and his top aides against those who allegedly assaulted police in Los Angeles, compared to their staunch defense of those who admitted beating and gassing police on Jan. 6. The disparity risks inflaming the already heated controversy in California.