ASA former director prosecuted for falsifying records to manipulate share prices

Lieutenant General To An Xo, Chief of Staff cum Spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Security, on January 24, informed that the Police Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security issued a decision to prosecute a criminal case, a decision to prosecute the accused, a search warrant, and an arrest warrant for temporary detention against Nguyen Van Nam, former Director of ASA Joint Stock Company, for the crime of "obtaining property by deception", as specified in Article No.174 of the Criminal Code 2015, amended and supplemented in 2017.
ASA former director prosecuted for falsifying records to manipulate share prices ảnh 1 Nguyen Van Nam, former Director of ASA JSC. (Photo: Ministry of Public Security)
Accordingly, the Police Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security has been investigating the acts of creating artificial supply and demand, manipulating the share price of SANA WMT Joint Venture Joint Stock Company (now ASA JSC), with the stock code of ASA.

The investigation shows that Nguyen Van Nam, former Director of ASA JSC, falsified records and documents to manipulate prices of seven million ASA shares, worth VND70 billion (US$3 million), and additionally listed seven million ASA shares on the Hanoi Stock Exchange to sell and collect money illegally.

The State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SSC) has just informed about the prosecution of the case of “obtaining property by deception” at ASA JSC and related units.

At the same time, SSC also canceled seven million shares of ASA JSC from the private placement of shares to increase charter capital from VND30 billion to VND100 billion.

Accordingly, on January 23, 2022, the SSC issued Decision No.50/QD-UBCK on the cancellation of seven million shares of ASA JSC from the private placement to increase capital from VND30 billion to VND100 billion. The decision was issued based on the inspection results of the SSC on ASA JSC and the investigation and verification results by the Investigative Police Agency of the Ministry of Public Security.

ASA JSC, formerly Sana WMT Joint Venture Joint Stock Company, had been listed and officially traded on the HNX since 2012. ASA shares had been delisted from the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) since June 13, 2019, due to a serious violation of the obligation of information disclosure, then transferred to the UPCoM trading system from June 21, 2019, and put under trading restriction. 

During the process of supervision and inspection, the SSC detected some unusual signs in the financial statements from the private placement of shares to increase capital from VND30 billion to VND100 billion of ASA JSC and trading of ASA stocks. Therefore, it coordinated and requested the Economic Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security to verify and clarify.

Currently, the Police Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security has been investigating the case. The SSC will continue to closely coordinate with the Police Investigation Agency, relevant agencies, and organizations to strictly handle violations and protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors.

Previously, on November 23, 2021, ASA JSC was fined VND100 million for not disclosing information and was also applied the aggravating circumstances for violating many times.

By the end of the trading session on January 24, 2022, ASA was priced at VND12,600 per share. Since this stock is currently subject to restricted trading on the UPCoM, the cancellation of seven million shares of ASA will barely affect the stock market. At the same time, investors who suffer losses related to these seven million shares will have many grounds to be compensated following the law.

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