Former FLC Group chairman sentenced to 21 years in prison

FLC Group chairman Trịnh Văn Quyết receives the verdict at the court in Hà Nội on Monday. VNA/VNS Photo Phạm Kiên

HÀ NỘI — Former chairman of FLC Group Trịnh Văn Quyết has been sentenced to 21 years in prison for fraudulent appropriation of property and stock market manipulation. 

Seven other defendants have also been prosecuted for the same crimes, including Quyết’s sisters Trịnh Thị Minh Huế and Trịnh Thị Thúy Nga, both FLC Group’s general accountants. 

The remaining 42 defendants in the case received suspended sentences or penalties of up to 7.5 years in prison for the fraudulent appropriation of property, stock market manipulation, abuse of position and power while performing official duties, and intentional disclosure of false information or concealment of information in securities activities.

Defendant Doãn Văn Phương, former CEO of FLC Group and board chair of Faros Construction JSC is on the run, with a warrant out for his arrest. 

The trial verdict read that Quyết was the mastermind behind the case, directly managing the fraudulent activities with other defendants as accomplices. 

The trial panel said that their testimonies were consistent with the evidence in the case file and those of the victims, which served as the basis for the Supreme People’s Procuracy’s to proceed with the prosecution. 

The number of victims has been reviewed as numbering over 25,000 people, who purchased shares of Faros (stock code: ROS) and had their property illegally appropriated due to false information from Quyết and his accomplices. 

According to court documents, Quyết directed Phương and Huế to commit fraudulent acts to baselessly increase the owner’s capital contribution of Faros from VNĐ1.5 billion (US$59,300) to VNĐ4.3 trillion ($170 million), then arranged paperwork to list the company’s stocks on the HCM City Stock Exchange (HOSE). 

He is also found guilty of directing his subordinates and acquaintances to record falsified information in financial statements for audits.

Other defendants are from the Department of Public Company Supervision (under the State Securities Commission), the Việt Nam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation and the HOSE used these falsified documents to approve the company and its stock registration, listing 430 million ROS shares on the HOSE. 

The trial panel emphasised that via these practices, Quyết leveraged HOSE as the platform to sell more than 391 million ROS shares at their inflated values, embezzling over VNĐ3.6 trillion ($142.4 million) from stock investors.

These illegal processes had the active involvement of other defendants, who were responsible for unwarranted increases in capital contributions, investment entrustments, legitimising cash flows from the inflated capital contributions and approving share listings. 

Quyết and his sisters Huế and Nga are said to have illicitly gained more than VNĐ684 billion ($27.3 million) from stock market manipulation.

Other defendants are also held responsible for their involvement, some of them lent their personal identification documents to Huế to establish companies and open securities accounts to assist with their fraudulent acts. — VNS