Vietnamese police have arrested Trinh Van Quyet, chairman of the property and leisure conglomerate FLC Group and its subsidiary Bamboo Airways (QH, Hanoi Noi Bai International), on suspicions of stock market manipulation and concealing information on share transactions. The move follows his detention several days ago.

The country’s Ministry of Public Security broke the news on March 29, issuing a statement saying that its Investigative Police Agency “is conducting an investigation and verification” against the chairman for the alleged “acts of manipulating the stock market and concealing information in securities activities on January 10, 2022, causing serious damage to the company and investors, affecting the operation of Vietnam’s stock market.”

Trinh has already been fined VND1.5 billion dong (USD65,800) and suspended from stock trading for five months for these secretive transactions in January. According to the ministry, he sold 74.8 million FLC Group shares on that date without notifying market authorities as required.

Along with the decisions to issue an arrest warrant and prosecute the accused, the Investigative Police Agency has begun a search of residences and workplaces at 21 locations, the ministry added.

FLC said in a letter to “shareholders, partners, and customers” posted on its website on the evening of March 29 that its chairman was cooperating with investigators in this initial phase of the probe and that no conclusions had yet been reached.

“The case is related to Mr Trinh Van Quyet personally conducting securities trading transactions recently,” the letter said. “For clarity, FLC Group is not an entity involved and/or has activities related to this case. Accordingly, the incident has no affect on any orientations of FLC in production, investment, business activities or sustainable development.

In a separate statement issued on the morning of March 30, Bamboo Airways likewise stressed it was not involved in the case and that operations would continue as normal. It added that Trinh had authorised Vu Dang Hai Yen, deputy general director of FLC Group, to take over all of the chairman’s duties related to both FLC and Bamboo Airways. A lawyer by trade, she was appointed deputy chief of FLC in March 2017.

At a meeting on March 31, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said it would supervise Bamboo Airways’ operations for the next three to six months, with special attention paid to aircraft maintenance and operations, training, and maintaining standards for pilots, cabin crew, and human resources. The airline had allegedly warned that it had assessed risks and operational impacts after the sudden change in the top leadership position. The authority assured that Bamboo Airways’ management team, sales system, air operator’s certificate, and other certification would be kept intact.