Property tycoon Trinh Van Quyet seeks absence from trial due to 'high risk of death'

He has asked to be excused from attending the trial, judges at the High People’s Court in Hanoi said, quoting medical records he has furnished as saying he is "severely fatigued, experiencing breathing difficulties and has reduced kidney function."

Former FLC chairman Trinh Van Quyet seen at the People's Court in Hanoi in July 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

"Defendant Quyet suffers from multiple respiratory conditions with a high risk of death and requires long-term treatment," one of the judges said.

Two appeal trials have been postponed so far this year because of Quyet’s absence, both times ostensibly on health grounds.

Both of Quyet’s sisters and accomplices, Trinh Thi Minh Hue and Trinh Thi Thuy Nga, were present at the court Tuesday.

Prosecutors have called on the court to go ahead with the trial.

The court of first instance ruled last year that Quyet, as chairman of property developer FLC, acquired construction firm Faros with a registered capital of VND1.5 billion (US$58,000) and, along with his accomplices, fraudulently claimed on paper that its capital was VND4.3 trillion and listed its shares on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange.

As of Sept. 5, 2022, when ROS was delisted from the exchange, 63,000 investors (excluding the defendants) held Faros shares and 27,800 demanded compensation during the investigation and trial.

Quyet was found guilty of stock manipulation and fraudulent appropriation of assets and sentenced to 21 years’ imprisonment.

Trinh Thi Minh Hue, sister of Trinh Van Quyet, seen at the High People's Court in Hanoi on June 17, 2025. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

His sister Hue, former accountant of FLC, got 14 years, and Nga, former deputy CEO of BOS Securities (an FLC associate company) got eight.

All three have appealed for commutation of their sentences.

The trio earlier this month turned in VND2.5 trillion to authorities to compensate the victims of their crime.