Vingroup chairman not banned from country exit: public security ministry

Pham Nhat Vuong, chairman of Vietnam's largest private company Vingroup, has not been banned from leaving the country, the Ministry of Public Security stated Saturday.

“Up to this moment, it can be confirmed that Pham Nhat Vuong, chairman of Vingroup, is not on the list of people prohibited from leaving the country,” Lieutenant General To An Xo, the ministry’s chief of office and spokesman, told the government's monthly press meeting.

Vingroup, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange as VIC, is Vietnam's largest private corporation by market capitalization, while its chairman is the country's richest billionaire by stock market assets, according to Forbes.

Regarding the case of An Dong Investment Group Corporation, a subsidiary of Van Thinh Phat Group, there is a lot of false information spreading in Vietnam and abroad for bad purposes, causing confusion in public opinion and nagatively affecting the stock market and many businesses, he noted.

In the first 10 months of the year, the public security ministry has prosecuted 527 cases of cyber-violations, an increase year-on-year.

“In the coming time, functional forces will continue to strictly handle cases of disseminating false and untrue information that affects the economy, stock market, banks, as well as businesses that are abiding by the law,” said Xo.

He added that “there appeared information that the boss of this or that group is being monitored or placed under control, but from the perspective of economic security, it can be said that most large enterprises are operating normally.”

In July, the public security ministry had stated that it was investigating nine individuals for reporting that Pham Nhat Vuong had been “banned from leaving the country”.

The ministry had said that information about controls imposed on the Vingroup chairman was incorrect. It had not revealed details of the people being investigated.