Novaland rejects social media rumors as fake news

Vietnamese property giant Novaland said Monday that recent rumors spreading on social networks about its projects and business operations were false.

The rumors have negatively affected the corporation, its clients and employees, the Ho Chi Minh City-based developer said in a press release.

Novaland was referring to a photo that has gone viral in the last couple of days on social networks. The photo looks like a petition calling on officials in the southern province of Dong Nai to provide Ho Chi Minh City's economic police with evidence of wrongdoings in land use by Dona Coop, a provincial agricultural cooperative, which is related to Novaland’s Izumi City project and Aqua City project in Dong Nai.

Novaland asserted that this was completely fake news, adding that it was working with authorities to take appropriate measures to handle the rumors.

The company is also coping with another viral photo said to be a request for help sent to the Ministry of Construction in 2020, related to one of its projects.

"The act of spreading only the last page of the document with a lot of inappropriate comments has distorted the truth about Novaland's activities, causing panic among employees, communities, customers and investors, and doing harm to the corporation's reputation and operation," the release said.

The corporation, a subsidiary of NovaGroup, reiterated that it has been working with authorities to take timely measures to prevent the spread of fake news and protect the legitimate interests of stakeholders.

Novaland, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) as NVL, closed Monday's trading session at VND74,400 ($2.99) per share.