Chairman of FLC group Trinh Van Quyet (C) is escorted by policemen to a court for his trial on fraud charges in Hanoi on July 22, 2024. Vietnamese property and aviation tycoon Trinh Van Quyet faced justice in Hanoi on July 22 as authorities asserting their iron fist on wrongdoings among the business community. (Photo by Anh TUC / AFP)
A FORMER property and aviation tycoon charged with US$146mil (RM683mil) in fraud and stock market manipulation went on trial in Hanoi, the latest corruption case targeting the communist country’s business elite.
Trinh Van Quyet, who owned the FLC empire of luxury resorts, golf courses, as well as the budget airline Bamboo Airways, had nearly US$2bil in stock market wealth before his arrest in 2022, according to state media estimates.
The 48-year-old – handcuffed and dressed in a white shirt – was led into court by police yesterday.
The trial comes just days after the death of former Communist Party of Vietnam leader Nguyen Phu Trong, who is credited with spearheading a crackdown on graft at the highest levels.
Trong, 80, died on Friday at a military hospital in Hanoi “due to old age and serious illness”, the party said, a day after announcing he was standing down to seek medical care.
Tycoon Quyet is accused of illegally pocketing the US$146mil between 2017 and 2022.
Following his arrest in March 2022, 49 other alleged accomplices were picked up – including his two sisters and the former chairman of the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange and its chief executive officer.
According to the prosecution indictment, Quyet set up several stock market brokerages and registered dozens of family members to, ostensibly, trade shares.
Police said while orders to buy shares were placed in hundreds of trading sessions – pushing up the value of the stock – they were cancelled before being matched.
The case is part of a national corruption crackdown that has swept up numerous officials and members of Vietnam’s business elite in recent years.
In April, a top property tycoon sentenced to death in a US$27bil (RM126bil) fraud case, launched an appeal against her conviction.
The head of one of the top soft drinks companies, meanwhile, was jailed for eight years in April in a US$40mil (RM187mil) fraud case. — AFP