The appeals court yesterday maintained the death sentence against Ba and also mandated her to pay back the stolen money.

Three other former officials of the provincial post office who lodged the appeal with the court, including ex-director Le Quang Trung, were convicted and received sentences ranging from two and a half years to five years for dereliction of duty in failing to discover Ba’s wrongdoings.

Ba was arrested in December 2006 after police discovered she had pocketed large sums of money every time she was tasked with transferring post office funds to the treasury through banks.

By forging invoices to authorize the stolen money, Ba had managed to embezzle VND15.4 billion out of the VND26 billion ($1.6 million) she was entrusted with.

Ba admitted her crime in court, saying she had spent the misappropriated money on lottery tickets, gambling and traveling.

Reported by Tien Trinh