Arrested a group of subjects manipulating stocks, earning more than 10 billion VND

On August 30, the Economic Police Department - Hanoi City Police announced that it had initiated a case and prosecuted Tran Binh Minh (born in 1982, in Thanh Xuan district), Nguyen Hoang Thi (born in 1986, in Hai Ba Trung district), Le Xuan Cao (born in 1989, in Dong Da district), Phung Tien Thanh (born in 1985, in Vinh Yen city, Vinh Phuc province), Tran Ngoc Son (born in 1993, in Hoang Mai) and Tran Ba ​​Tuan (born in 1975), Ha Duc Dat (born in 1990) all in Nam Tu Liem district for manipulating the stock market with the stock code CMS of CMH Vietnam Group Joint Stock Company.

The police identified 2 of the 7 ringleaders as Tran Binh Minh and Nguyen Hoang Thi. From May to October 2023, Minh's group, as a freelance investor and ringleader, colluded and enticed many members of the group to continuously place buy and sell orders for securities, affecting supply and demand and stock prices, and used multiple accounts to continuously buy and sell CMS stock codes.

Minh bought CMS stock codes at low prices, then pushed up the prices and sold them for profit. Nguyen Hoang Thi and 5 related subjects created and used groups on Zalo and Telegram applications to discuss and exchange about stocks, then called for and gave opinions on trading many stock codes. Among these, CMS code was mentioned to guide investors' buying and selling decisions.

Minh created a chat group "KTC internal brothers" (on Zalo and Telegram applications) to convey specific content to each person posting information to the group.

Minh directed the admins or deputy group members to "kick" (push) out of the group members who sent messages with unfavorable, negative information that hindered his process of pushing up the price of CMS shares.

In September 2023, Minh and related subjects sold a large amount of CMS shares to gain illegal profits, causing losses to many investors.

To buy and hold stocks, as well as to "carry" fake CMS codes during the manipulation period, the group led by Minh used many securities accounts to buy and sell CMS codes.

The State Securities Commission determined that these accounts, from May 2023 to October 2023, bought and sold a large amount of CMS shares, accounting for a high proportion and large volume in the entire market, reaching the threshold for suspicious transaction warnings.

Initial verification and checking of securities accounts and bank accounts determined: During the period from May 4, 2023 to October 31, 2023, the subjects colluded and enticed to manipulate CMS codes, selling and earning a profit of more than 10 billion VND.

In particular, the securities account of individual Tran Binh Minh earned a profit from CMS stock trading activities of more than 5.5 billion VND (provisional estimate, excluding taxes and fees).

Hanoi City Police are expanding the investigation into the case, clarifying the role of other related subjects, and also recommending that investors proactively research information about stocks, operations, and finances of listed companies to choose appropriate investments, avoiding falling into the traps of scammers.