Vingroup of billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong sues 68 individuals, organizations for ‘spreading false information’

Their social media pages or personal accounts "fabricated" content about the company and its chairman Pham Nhat Vuong and other senior executives, its deputy chairman and CEO Nguyen Viet Quang said Monday.

The platforms they used include TikTok, Facebook and YouTube.

The false rumors and "intentional attempts to mislead public opinion" related to the company’s financial situation, its product quality and origin, legal issues concerning its products, and its top executives.

Vietnam’s largest conglomerate has complained to relevant authorities and is working with lawyers in other countries to file lawsuits in accordance with local laws.

Vingroup plans to notify foreign embassies in Vietnam and Vietnamese embassies in the countries where the account holders reside.

Their actions violate Vietnam’s Cybersecurity Law and Penal Code, the company said. It said the social media account holders spread rumors that Vingroup was on the brink of bankruptcy with debts of VND800 trillion (US$30.29 billion), and that VinFast’s electric cars and motorbikes were Chinese products "disguised" as Vietnamese.

VinFast VF 8 Lux seen at an event. Photo by VnExpress/Luong Dung

It also claimed to be a victim of false information about mass resignations by its workers, legal issues with its products, and political ties. Its total borrowings are VND283 trillion, with a debt-to-equity ratio of around 1.8, a level that is considered "very safe for enterprises under both international and Vietnamese standards," it said.

Most of the remaining payables are advance payments from customers and partners or related to ordinary business activities consistent with the its scale, it said.

VinFast has mastered the entire production chain from research and design to manufacturing, it said to reject rumors its products were actually Chinese in origin.

Most of its manufacturing processes are carried out in Vietnam, with an indigenization rate of 60%, it said.

Vingroup was founded in 1993 in Ukraine as Technocom Group. In the early 2000s Technocom moved to Vietnam, focusing on tourism and real estate with its initial brands being Vinpearl and Vincom.

In January 2012 Vincom and Vinpearl merged to form Vingroup. It has since entered industrial manufacturing with VinFast as its core auto brand.

Most recently, through its subsidiary Vinspeed, it has offered to build the North-South high-speed railroad at a cost of $6-7 billion.

Vingroup chairman Pham Nhat Vuong was Vietnam’s first dollar billionaire and remains the country’s richest person. Globally, he ranks 225th with a net worth of $12.7 billion, according to Forbes.