Investor convicted over stock market manipulation

HÀ NỘI — The Hà Nội People's Court on Wednesday sentenced one person to  一 八 months in jail over stock market manipulation at Bình Thuận Mineral Industry JSC (KSA).

The first-instance trial opened on Tuesday.

Phạm Thị Hinh,  四 五, former chairman of the KSA Board of Directors, was jailed for  一 八 months.

The other three defendants, Nguyễn Anh Tuấn,  三 九, Trần Hồng Ngọc,  三 九, and Nguyễn Trọng Hùng, all residing in Hà Nội, were given  一 五-month suspended prison sentences and a  四 八-month probation term.

They were all convicted of manipulating the stock market under Article  二 一 一, Clause  二, Point C, Criminal Code  二0 一 五.

Phạm Thị Hinh was the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Bình Thuận Mineral Industry JSC (KSA) and  the Board of Directors of VSM Securities Joint Stock Company.

At the end of  二0 一 五, Phạm Thị Hinh increased charter capital of KSA by issuing  五 六.0 五 million shares to the public.

However, after the issuance, the price of KSA dropped sharply and liquidity was low, so Hinh set up accounts to conduct cross-trading in order to increase the stock prices and raise liquidity.

Hinh also instructed his accomplices, Ngọc, Tuấn and Hùng, to set up new  六 九 trading accounts. They then used those  六 九 accounts to trade KSA shares to create artificial supply and demand.

From December  一 一,  二0 一 五 to July  八,  二0 一 六, Hinh caused  一, 四 九 六 investors to lose more than VNĐ 八 billion.

In addition, Mirae Asset Vietnam Securities Co Ltd, Phú Hưng Securities JSC and Petroleum Securities JSC suffered total losses of VNĐ 七 六 一 million due to the illegal trading activities. — VNS