Vietnamese police have detained two other suspects for assisting Trinh Van Quyet, former chairman of real estate developer FLC, in manipulating the stock market.

The Ministry of Public Security’s Investigation Police Agency on Friday initiated criminal proceedings against and detained Huong Tran Kieu Dung, permanent vice chairwoman of the FLC Group and chairwoman of BOS Securities JSC, and Nguyen Quynh Anh, general director of BOS Securities JSC.

In this latest development of the case, Dung and Anh have been found joining the 47-year-old former FLC chairman in manipulating the stock market or acting under his directions in such manipulation, said Lt. Gen. To An Xo, chief of the ministry office.  

Three days ago, the State Securities Commission (SSC) fined Dung VND75 million (US$3,280) for violating a regulation of the Law on Securities.

Specifically, while being a member of the board of directors of FLC, Dung concurrently held the same position at six other companies, one more than allowed by the said law.

The agency previously prosecuted and arrested Quyet and his two accomplices, Trinh Thi Mai Hue and Trinh Thi Thuy Nga, who are his two younger sisters, for investigation on charges of stock market manipulation.

Earlier on January 10, Quyet sold 74.8 million FLC shares on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) after several consecutive rising sessions, without announcing his planned transactions as required by law, triggering public concern and causing chaos to the stock market.

The total revenue of the illicit sale reached nearly VND1,700 billion ($65.6 million), of which Quyet got an illegitimate earning of over VND530 billion ($23.18 million).

The State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SSC) immediately asked the southern stock watchdog to cancel the illegal transactions and asked FLC to reimburse its investors.

On January 18, the SSC gave Quyet a fine of VND1.5 billion ($65,610), the heaviest penalty in line with regulations, and suspended him from securities trading for five months.

It was the second time that Quyet, one of the wealthiest people on Vietnam’s stock market, has been penalized by the SSC for the same violation.

In 2017, the man sold 57 million FLC shares without any prior notice and got a fine of VND65 million ($2,843), which was much lower than the at least VND400 billion ($17.49 million) he could have pocketed from the illicit sale.

After Quyet’s arrest on March 29, the FLC Group two days later announced its new chairman, Dang Tat Thang, who previously was the group’s deputy general director. 

Established in 2001 and headquartered in Hanoi, the FLC Group operates in such fields as finance, real estate, golf resorts, aviation, high-tech agriculture, financial investment, education, and healthcare, among others, the conglomerate said on its website.

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