Businessman fined for slandering Sacombank chairman

Chairman of ATB Investment & Partners Private Investment Fund Dang Tat Thang has been fined for posting a "slanderous" message about Sacombank chairman Duong Cong Minh on his Facebook page, named "Thang Dang".

Inspectors from Hanoi's Department of Information and Communications announced the decision to punish Thang on Monday in response to a petition filed by Sacombank.

Thang is a former chairman of private carrier Bamboo Airways,

On May 5, Sacombank asked the department to deal with a post that "seriously insulted the honor and image" of Duong Cong Minh.

The post had affected the brand and reputation of Sacombank and its chairman, the bank wrote in the petition.

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."

Following the post, Thang wrote an apology and deactivated his Facebook account.

In his apology, he wrote: "I was too emotional at the time so I posted the message on my personal Facebook page. These statements may have affected Sacombank, and the reputations of its leaders, shareholders, and customers. I would like to publicly apologize to them."

Dang Tat Thang, 42, graduated with a master's degree in construction and project management from Northumbria University in the UK.

Thang 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.