Record capital increase, ROS up to over 200,000 VND/share

The Hanoi People's Court has just announced the trial plan for former FLC Group Chairman Trinh Van Quyet and 49 others in the case of inflating the charter capital of FLC Faros Construction JSC (ROS) from the initial figure of VND1.5 billion to VND4,300 billion. The trial is scheduled to open on the morning of July 22 and last for several days.

Mr. Trinh Van Quyet's case of inflating the charter capital of FLC Faros Construction JSC (ROS) and inflating the price of ROS shares is considered a black mark on the stock market.

Under the hands of "magician" Trinh Van Quyet, ROS shares went from almost nothing to hundreds of thousands of VND/share.

ROS of FLC Faros Construction JSC is the most "unusual" stock on the Vietnamese stock market - the factor that helped Mr. Trinh Van Quyet in late 2016 and early 2017 suddenly become the richest person on the stock market if calculated based on the number and price of the shares that Mr. Quyet held at that time; at the same time, it also caused many investors to lose money in this "hot coal" exchange game.

Since being listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) on September 1, 2016, ROS shares have attracted the attention of investors. With a reference price of VND10,500/share, equivalent to a market capitalization value at that time of more than VND4,500 billion, ROS shares have continuously increased very rapidly.

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Former Chairman of FLC Group Trinh Van Quyet. Photo: HH

Since October 2016, investors in the stock market have witnessed a sudden increase in trading volume for ROS shares, with 50-70 million units being transferred each session. ROS shares increased wildly, 10 times after a few months of listing, reaching VND100,000/share.

Around mid-November 2016, Mr. Trinh Van Quyet suddenly surpassed Mr. Pham Nhat Vuong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vingroup Corporation, to become the richest person on the stock market, causing shock and suspicion.

At that time, with the price of 115,000 VND/share, Mr. Quyet's assets reached about 33 trillion VND (1.47 billion USD), mainly thanks to owning nearly 290 million ROS shares. Mr. Vuong's assets were at 32,300 billion VND (about 1.44 billion USD).

Ms. Le Thi Ngoc Diep, Mr. Quyet's wife, is also in the top 10 richest people on the stock exchange.

Since July 24, 2017, ROS has been included in the VN30 basket (30 key stocks on the stock market), and has continued to record a seemingly "endless" series of growth days.

The craziest period of ROS stock was from late September to early November 2017. Investors were surprised when the stock of a little-known construction company increased 10 times, then more than doubled, to nearly 215,000 VND/share.

After 6 months since its debut on the stock market, ROS shares have increased by more than 2,000% with a record of 35 consecutive increasing sessions. At that time, Mr. Quyet's assets at times soared to over 50 trillion VND. However, Mr. Quyet could no longer hold the No. 1 position because Mr. Pham Nhat Vuong recorded an increase in the number of Vingroup (VIC) shares held.

During the process of increasing his assets, Mr. Quyet was not recognized by the prestigious magazines Forbes and Bloomberg as the next USD billionaire of Vietnam.

ROS down to 2,000 VND/share, 7 'FLC family' stocks delisted, Trinh Van Quyet plummets

From a huge capitalization, in the period of 2016-2017, surpassing both BIDV and Vietinbank, Faros gradually declined.

After peaking in November 2017, ROS began to fall back to VND100,000/share (adjusted price) around early March 2018, then dropped further to VND50,000/share in mid-2018. By early 2020, ROS had fallen below VND10,000/share and was only VND2,000/share in March 2020.

ROS shares then moved sideways, mostly at VND1,000-5,000/share, lasting until they were delisted in September 2022.

The story of capital inflation and pushing up ROS stock prices was exposed after Mr. Trinh Van Quyet illegally sold nearly 75 million FLC shares at the beginning of 2022.

After this incident, which was considered “money-hungry and reckless”, Mr. Quyet’s mysterious past violations gradually came to light. The group of businesses in the FLC ecosystem also fell into a sinking situation.

To date, all 7 "FLC family" stock codes have been delisted to protect investors, including: FLC, ROS, HAI (HAI Agricultural Chemicals), AMD (FLC Stone Investment and Minerals), GAB (FLC Mining Investment and Asset Management), BOS Securities (ART) and CFS Trade Investment and Import-Export (KLF).

FLC Group alone, after delisting 710 million shares from February 20, 2023, still has more than 64,100 shareholders. The number of shareholders in the remaining 6 enterprises in the "FLC ecosystem" is also very large.

Many people have become victims before they can escape and get rid of FLC stocks.

As for ROS, this stock officially left the HOSE floor from September 2022 but was not approved for trading registration on Upcom. Thousands of billions of dong in shareholder capital contributions cannot be recovered.

In the decision to bring the case to trial by the Hanoi People's Court, the Court determined that the people with related rights and obligations are 63,092 investors holding ROS shares of Faros Company. The number of victims in this case was determined to be 30,403 investors who bought shares (initial sale) of ROS.

Along with the sinking ecosystem, Mr. Trinh Van Quyet also recorded his assets evaporate. With the crime of "Stock market manipulation", the indictment pointed out that Mr. Quyet and his accomplices manipulated the prices of 5 stock codes AMD, ART, HAI, GAB, FLC; illegally profited more than 684 billion VND.

Mr. Le Hai Tra was prosecuted: The 3,600 billion scam and the group during Trinh Van Quyet's time . Mr. Le Hai Tra and a group of former HoSE leaders were prosecuted for violations that allowed Trinh Van Quyet to defraud investors. The stock market was once bustling, with scandals associated with "groups".