Chairman of FLC group Trinh Van Quyet (C) is escorted by policemen to a court for his trial on fraud charges in Hanoi on July 22, 2024. Vietnamese property and aviation tycoon Trinh Van Quyet faced justice in Hanoi on July 22 as authorities asserting their iron fist on wrongdoings among the business community. (Photo by Anh TUC / AFP) Hanoi, Vietnam — A former Vietnamese property and aviation tycoon charged with $146 million 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 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. READ: Vietnam sentences property tycoon to death in its largest ever fraud case 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 between 2017 and 2022. Following his arrest in March 2022, 49 other alleged accompl.