FLC Group's Trinh Van Quyet defrauded investors of $138 million in stock scheme

FLC Group was a Vietnamese conglomerate spanning real estate, aviation, and resorts, founded by Trinh Van Quyet. The core fraud involved Faros Construction, which Quyet acquired with VND 1.5 billion in registered capital. Between 2014 and 2016, he and accomplices fabricated documents to inflate Faros' charter capital to VND 4.3 trillion — a 2,800-fold increase — by falsely declaring themselves as shareholders. They then listed 430 million Faros shares (ROS) on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, defrauding investors of approximately VND 3.6 trillion ($138 million).

Separately, between May 2017 and January 2022, Quyet directed relatives and subordinates to open shell company accounts and manipulate the share prices of five listed stocks: AMD, HAI, GAB, FLC, and ART. Through coordinated fake orders, they created artificial demand and drove prices up by 70% to 1,776%. Once prices rose, Quyet sold shares for illicit gains of over VND 723 billion ($27.6 million). The scheme unraveled on January 10, 2022, when Quyet dumped 74.8 million FLC shares without prior notification, triggering an SSC investigation.

Quyet was arrested in March 2022. In 2024, he was sentenced to 21 years in prison — 18 for fraud and 3 for stock manipulation. On appeal in June 2025, the High People's Court in Hanoi reduced the sentence to 7 years, citing full restitution of over VND 1.88 trillion, more than 5,000 petitions for leniency, and his severe health condition. His sisters Trinh Thi Minh Hue and Trinh Thi Thuy Nga received reduced sentences of 4.5 years and time served respectively. Two former HOSE officials were also convicted for abuse of power.