To Vi Hoan, a 38-year-old resident in Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi, has been determined as the person who disseminated false information about the Vingroup chairman on social media. Hoan stated that Pham Nhat Vuong, Vietnam’s richest person by stock market capitalization, was barred from exiting the country.

Lieutenant general To An Xo, office chief and spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Security, told the local media that the dissemination of this fake news had left adverse impact on the reputation and legitimate interests of the company, and even on the local stock market.

In early trade yesterday, Vingroup’s VIC share price took a nosedive after the news had gone viral on social media since late last week. The fall continued throughout the morning and VIC shares were still offloaded as afternoon trade started, sending their price down over 5% to VND66,200 per share.

VHM shares of Vinhomes, a leading Vietnamese property developer, dropped into negative territory as trade opened. They briefly plummeted to VND58,400 per share.

VRE shares of Vincom Retail, the operator of Vincom shopping centers, dipped in much of the trading session.

The prices of the three stocks erased some losses after the Ministry of Public Security refuted the rumor about Pham Nhat Vuong and Vingroup. At the close, VRE rose from VND25,150 to VND26,000 per share, VHM improved from VND58,400 to VND60,500 per share, and VIC stayed at its reference price of VND70,000 per share.

The Hanoi City Department of Information and Communications, in coordination with the Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention at the ministry, imposed a VND7.5-million fine on To Vi Hoan for circulating the fake news on Zalo, a Vietnamese social media platform, and ordered Hoan to remove the relevant post from the platform.

The police are also dealing with nine other individuals who have had social media posts containing false information that Pham Nhat Vuong had been banned from traveling abroad.

Source: Saigon Times