Ex-Bamboo Air chairman’s aide detained for probe in Vietnam

Bloomberg

Vietnam police detained the aide to Bamboo Airways former Chairman Trinh Van Quyet as part of a widening probe in alleged stock manipulation at real estate developer FLC Group, which he founded.
FLC accountant Trinh Thi Minh Hue, reportedly Quyet’s sister, will be detained for three months, the public security ministry said. Police detained Quyet as part of an investigation into alleged stock manipulation and concealing information in securities activities.
FLC Group was not immediately available for comment. A representative of Hue could not be immediately reached. FLC hasn’t been involved with Quyet’s recent stock trades and the investigation will have no effect on its operations, the company said in a statement. Neither Quyet nor his representative could be reached for comment.
Hue is the biological younger sister of Quyet, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported, citing To An Xo, security ministry’s spokesman. Shares of FLC fell 2.2% at the close of the market, the most since March 31.
The expanding investigation into the stock sale could weigh on Bamboo Airways plans for an initial a US initial public offering, said Nguyen Anh Duc, head of institutional sales at SSI Securities Corp. Quyet said last year that Bamboo planned to raise about $200 million in a US IPO.
The probe, which could widen to other aspects of FLC’s and Bamboo Airways’ operations, is likely to affect the market’s confidence in the company, Duc said.
Vietnam’s securities commission in January fined Quyet 1.5 billion dong ($65,616) for selling 74.8 million of FLC shares without disclosing it beforehand as required by law. He was suspended from trading for five months. Quyet, 46, held 30.34% of the company’s shares as of April 5, according to a filing
with the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange. Quyet’s stake in Bamboo Airways is 55.58%, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam.