Apax Leaders head accused of giving bribes

Nguyen Manh Phu, financial director of Egroup, was also arrested by the police to be investigated for corruption and smuggling on Wednesday.

Tong Thi Kim Lien, CEO of the Nhat Tran company, has been arrested for allegedly receiving bribes; while Pham Thi Thanh Tho, head accountant of Egroup, and Nguyen Thi Hoai Thuong, accountant of its game distribution company Egame, have been accused of fraud.

The specific details of their criminal acts have not been announced.

The arrests were the latest development of an ongoing case into fraudulent appropriation of assets at Egroup, Egame, and others.

Mugshots of Nguyen Ngoc Thuy (L), board chairman of Egroup, and Dang Van Hien, head of shareholder relations at Egame. Photos courtesy of the Ministry of Public Security

The Ministry of Public Security accused Thuy and his accomplices to have called for capital by selling non-existent shares of Egroup from 2015 to 2023. Thuy had been arrested in March along with Dang Van Hien, head of shareholder relations at Egame, for the alleged fraudulent appropriation of assets.

In a separate case, HCMC last year launched an investigation on Thuy and Apax Leader after hundreds of parents accused them of stealing from them a total of VND6 billion ($241,700) in tuition fee.

Apax Leaders received its operation permits in 2016. It claims to have 120 centers nationwide with 120,000 students.