Vietnam auctioned two Hermes handbags belonging to convicted real estate tycoon Truong My Lan to help recoup billions in damages from the country's largest fraud case. Efforts to recover the assets are accelerating.

Vietnam auctioned off two Hermes handbags owned by real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, convicted in the nation’s largest fraud case, for 14.21 billion dong (US$539,000) as efforts to claw back billions of dollars in ill-gotten wealth accelerate. The government is auditing assets owned by Lan and her affiliates to recoup billions in losses after courts ordered her to repay US$27 billion in damages. Lan has so far repaid a total of more than 12 trillion dong to about 42,000 bondholders with more...