FLC Group Chairman Trinh Van Quyet has been arrested for stock market manipulation and hiding information.

FLC Chairman Trinh Van Quyet.

Lieutenant General To An Xo, chief of the Ministry of Public Security Office, informed the news today [March 29], noting  Quyet’s office and houses were searched as part of the investigation process.

Quyet is accused of engaging in market manipulation by selling 74.8 million shares of FLC without reporting to the market authorities in advance.

Such a move has caused severe financial damages to investors and left negative consequences on the operation of Vietnam’s stock market, he said.

On January 10, Quyet conducted unannounced transactions of 74.8 million shares of FLC Group, prompting the State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SSC), the country’s stock market watchdog, to freeze his securities account.

The incident triggered a wave of selling of FLC shares and others related to the Group founder, such as ROS, AMD, KLF, or HAI.

The SSC also instructed the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) to cancel the transactions of 74.8 million shares and refund investors.

Eight days later, the SSC imposed an administrative fine of VND1.5 billion (US$65,600) against Quyet for his action, the heaviest penalty possible, along with a five-month ban from the stock market. 

This was the second time Quyet received a penalty from the SSC, as he was fined VND65 million ($2,842) in November 2017 for selling 57 million shares of FLC without reporting to the authorities.

Quyet, 47, was one of the richest men in Vietnam’s stock market and currently owns over 215 million shares of FLC, along with millions of shares in other subsidiaries such as ROS, ART, BOS, and GAB.