Bamboo Airways ex-CEO wanted following Sacombank accusations

Former CEO of Bamboo Airways Dang Tat Thang is wanted for questioning by the Ministry of Public Security's investigative agency to verify accusations made by Sacombank about his wrongdoings.

Thang was accused by the Ho Chi Minh City-based private lender of "abusing freedom and democracy to infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals".

According to the investigation, Thang, 43, resides at the FLC apartment building, 265 Cau Giay, Hanoi, but he has not been seen for some time.

The investigators requested relevant units under the ministry to coordinate a search for the ex-Bamboo Airways CEO.

Thang graduated with a master's degree in construction and project management from Northumbria University in the UK.

He was vice chairman and CEO of Bamboo Airways for the 2021-2026 term. On March 31, 2022, he was appointed the airline’s chairman to replace of Trinh Van Quyet, who was arrested for "stock market manipulation".

In late July 2022, Thang resigned from all his positions at Bamboo Airways, a subsidiary of FLC Group.

Previously, on April 2, Sacombank sent documents to the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Information and Communications, and press agencies claiming that a Facebook page named "Thang Dang" repeatedly posted fabricated information and slandered Sacombank leaders.

In an April 1 post on his verified Facebook account “Thang Dang”, Thang said that Duong Cong Minh, chairman of Sacombank, had been banned from going abroad since April 1 for helping Truong My Lan, chairwoman of real estate firm Van Thinh Phat, launder large amounts of money.

Sacombank affirmed that the allegations were “totally fabricated and slanderous” and an attempt to “defame Sacombank's leaders”.

Then Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security rejected the information, stating that Sacombank chairman Duong Cong Minh was not on any list for exit restriction or ban.

In June last year, Thang was fined for posting a "slanderous" message about Sacombank chairman Duong Cong Minh on his Facebook page.

Inspectors from Hanoi's Department of Information and Communications punished Thang in response to a petition filed by the bank.

In the post, Thang wrote that Minh was "incompetent" and "immoral". "The chairman knows nothing about the banking profession other than stealing. He has made shady business dealings. When a bank's chairman is like that, shareholders lose confidence."

He also posted: "If I had money deposited at Sacombank, I’d withdraw it straight away."