State Securities Commission official turns blind eye to FLC chairman’s violations for fear of job loss

State Securities Commission (SSC) official Le Cong Dien has admitted he spotted multiple problems while checking the capacity profile of Faros Construction JSC - a member of FLC Group - but did not dare to reject its listing application as he was afraid his job could be affected.

Dien claimed he was worried about losing his job as then FLC chairman Trinh Van Quyet "had many relationships with leaders at all levels and owned a company specializing in legal consultancy”, the head of the stock market watchdog's (SSC) Public Company Supervision Department told the police.

Dien was one of three SSC officials accused of intentionally publishing false information or concealing information related to securities activities by the Ministry of Public Security’s investigation agency (C01) on Saturday after they wrapped up an extended probe into a stock manipulation and asset appropriation case involving Quyet.

The two others are Duong Van Thanh, general director of SSC’s Vietnam Securities Depository (VSD); and Pham Minh Trung, head of VSD’s securities registration division.

According to C01, Dien was responsible for appraising and approving listing registration documents and controlling auditing units. When assigned to evaluate the Faros application, he discovered there was insufficient basis to determine contributed capital in the company’s audited reports.

However, he signed a document approving the application and then published it in the media. Later, Faros was successfully listed on the HoSE with charter capital of VND4.3 trillion ($174.5 million).

Dien’s actions helped Quyet and his accomplices to list Faros’s 430 million ROS shares on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) to commit fraud, appropriating more than VND3.6 trillion ($146 million) from investors.

At the police station, Dien admitted his wrongdoings, saying during the appraisal he had requested Faros to provide more evidence, but the company complained twice that he "performed his task beyond authority and caused difficulties for the business". Dien claimed that because he was afraid that his job would be affected, he still did it although he “knew it was wrong".

C01 determined that Dien's actions amounted to intentionally publishing false information or concealing information related to securities activities, andd he has been charged in line with Clause 2, Article 209 of the 2015 Penal Code.

In Thanh's case, as general director of VSD, he received the application to register and deposit 430 million ROS shares with a capital contribution value of VND4.3 trillion from Faros. Thanh clearly knew this profile did not provide enough basis to determine the actual amount of contributed capital.

However, he still signed and issued a securities registration certificate to Faros and notified depository members (securities companies), thus enabling Quyet and his subordinates to appropriate money from investors.

Trung, head of the VSD’s securities registration division, was assigned by Thanh to study Faros's application for securities registration and depository. Although he clearly knew that Faros's documents did not show enough basis to determine the actual amount of contributed capital, he still asked Thanh to sign the securities registration certificate for Faros.

Thanh and Trung admitted their violations and face the same charge as Dien.

In its conclusion, the C01 also proposed prosecuting four former HoSE officials, including former chairman Tran Dac Sinh; Le Hai Tra, former board member, permanent deputy general director and independent member of the Listing Council; Tran Tuan Vu, former deputy general director and vice chairman of the council; and Le Thi Tuyet Hang, member of the council.

The four were charged with abusing power while performing duties per Clause 3, Article 356 of the 2015 Penal Code.

Trinh Van Quyet and seven others were investigated for stock market manipulation and fraudulent appropriation of assets; while 13 were charged with stock market manipulation and 22 with fraudulent appropriation of assets.