Vingroup chairman not banned from traveling abroad: public security ministry

To An Xo, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security, said that following the arrest of Truong My Lan, chairwoman of property developer Van Thinh Phat Group, to serve an investigation into alleged bond fraud at An Dong Investment Group Corp, a subsidiary of Van Thinh Phat, there have been false information circulating both inside and outside of Vietnam, confusing the public and affecting the economy, the stock market and businesses.

“There was information saying this person from that company is being monitored. But from the perspective of economic security, I can say that most companies, especially major ones, are still operating normally,” said Xo.

“As of this moment, Pham Nhat Vuong, chairman of Vingroup, is not in any list banned from traveling abroad as certain rumors have said.”

Vingroup has paid around VND127 trillion (US$5.1 billion) in taxes to the state lately, being one of the biggest tax payers in the country, Xo said.

Rumors of Vuong being banned from leaving Vietnam also circulated in July and were slammed by the police as false.

Everyone should have the responsibility to protect the operations of businesses and prevent false information from spreading, ensuring the development of the economy, Xo said.

Lan of Van Thinh Phat was arrested earlier this month for alleged fraud related to issuance and trading of bonds.

Also arrested were Truong Hue Van, 34, CEO of Windsor Property Management, Nguyen Phuong Hong, 38, an assistant at Van Thinh Phat, and Ho Buu Phuong, 50, former chairwoman of Tan Viet Securities and former deputy financial director of Van Thinh Phat.

They allegedly cheated a number of people in 2018-19 to misappropriate trillions of dong. (VND1 trillion = $40.27 million)