Trial starts for Vietnam tycoon in R2.66 billion graft case

Hanoi, Vietnam — A former Vietnamese property and aviation tycoon charged with $146 million (around R2.66 billion) in fraud and stock market manipulation went on trial in Hanoi Monday, the latest corruption case targeting the communist country's business elite.

Trinh Van Quyet, who owned the FLC empire of luxury resorts, golf courses, and the budget Bamboo Airways, had nearly $2 billion (around R36.58 billion) in stock market wealth before his arrest, according to state media estimates.

But on Monday the 48-year-old — handcuffed and dressed in a white shirt — was led into court by police officers.

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 more than $146 million (around R2.66 billion) 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.

But 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 Vietnamese property tycoon sentenced to death in a $27 billion (around R493.18 billion) fraud case, launched an appeal against her conviction.

The head of one of Vietnam's top soft drinks companies, meanwhile, was jailed for eight years in April in a $40 million (around R730.63 million) fraud case.

AFP