Former FLC chairman earns $42 mln from market manipulation: police

Trinh Van Quyet, then chairman of FLC Group, asked his sister to open 450 accounts at 41 securities companies to manipulate the stock market, illegally earning VND975 billion ($42 million), initial investigation results show.

From September 1, 2018 to January 10, 2019, Quyet directed Trinh Minh Hue to borrow 26 identity cards from individuals, establishing 20 companies and opening 450 trading accounts at 41 securities firms to manipulate the price of six stocks, Lieutenant General To An Xo, chief of staff and spokesman of the Ministry of Public Security, told a government meeting on Saturday.

“This has taken a particularly large toll on investors. The ministry’s investigative agency has received 557 applications from investors accusing Quyet and his accomplices of manipulating the stock market,” Xo added.

Trinh Van Quyet, chairman of FLC Group - one of Vietnam's leading real estate developers, was arrested in March this year on charges of “manipulating” and “concealing information in securities activities”.

Referring to the Viet A case, Xo said initial investigation results show that Viet A Company earned up to VND4,000 billion ($172.47 million) illicitly, of which VND800 billion was spent on bribes.

Phan Quoc Viet, CEO of Viet A Company, was arrested in December 2021. He then admitted he had inflated the price of a Covid-19 test kit by 45% and given huge bribes to corporate partners and leaders of provincial and city centers for disease control (CDCs) across the country, asking them to distribute and use Covid-19 test kits provided by his company.

Regarding the “rescue flights” that brought Vietnamese citizens home amid pandemic surge, profit was up to several billion Vietnamese dong (VND1 billion = over $43,000) a flight, Xo told the meeting. In total, Vietnam organized 2,000 such flights.

To Anh Dung, Deputy Foreign Minister, was arrested in April on charges of accepting bribes related to the “rescue flights”.

In January, the investigative agency arrested Nguyen Thi Huong Lan, 48, director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Consular Department, and three subordinates. The four have been placed under investigation for receiving bribes. Two months later, Nguyen Dieu Mo, general director of An Binh Aviation Services, Tourism and Trade Company, was arrested on charges of bribery.

Last month, Nguyen Tuong Vi, director of ATA Vietnam Investment and Consulting Company, and Nguyen Dung Hanh, director of G Vietnam 19 Company, were detained for "giving bribes".

This is part of an investigation into the case of bribery and accepting bribes at the foreign ministry's consular department and related cities and provinces.