The German court has just issued a verdict on Mr. Le Trung Khoa, owner of Thoibao.de, in the lawsuit between Vingroup/VinFast and Mr. Khoa related to defamation and slander against this enterprise.
Accordingly, Le Trung Khoa is prohibited from posting or allowing the posting of content related to the statement "VinFast bribed journalists" on his personal page or information pages managed by him. If he repeats the offense, Mr. Khoa will be administratively fined up to 250,000 euros for each violation, or sentenced to imprisonment from 6 months to 2 years.
The verdict was made after an emergency trial held in Berlin, Germany, on November 4, 2025, regarding Vingroup/VinFast's lawsuit against Mr. Le Trung Khoa over statements that "Vingroup is mafia" and "Vingroup/VinFast has given bribes". During the trial, Mr. Khoa and the lawyer could not provide any evidence to prove that the above statements were true.
After reviewing all the records, the German court concluded that the allegations of VinFast bribing journalists were untrue and ordered Mr. Khoa to prohibit or permit the dissemination of this information. Regarding the accusation of Vingroup is propaganda, although the court determined that this was an unfounded statement, it held that it was just a personally felt by the defendant.
Mr. Yannick Hoppe - lawyer at Brost and Classen law firm, representing Vingroup said that Vingroup did not agree with part of the verdict and will appeal in the next trial.
According to Mr. Hoppe, this lawsuit is just the beginning, and Vingroup will continue to carry out legal procedures in Germany to require Mr. Le Trung Khoa to be responsible for fabricated and slanderous statements related to Vingroup, VinFast and Mr. Pham Nhat Vuong personally.
Vingroup representative emphasized that the group will continue to take necessary legal measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests against false and defamatory content in the future.
Despite legal difficulties or geographical changes, we believe that anti- defamation lawsuits like this are necessary, not only to protect the legitimate rights of businesses but also to respect the rule of law. freedom of speech or freedom of press must be exercised on the basis of the law".
According to Vingroup, the determination to pursue defamation lawsuits demonstrates a uncompromising view of fake news and targeted defamation campaigns, especially campaigns aimed at reputable Vietnamese enterprises with international influence, with the aim of causing public panic and damaging the image of enterprises.
Previously, according to Vingroup's press release, on September 8, 2025, the group filed a civil lawsuit, reported to the authorities and sent documents to the embassies about 68 domestic and foreign organizations and individuals posting false information about Vingroup on the Internet.
Accordingly, 68 organizations and individuals were sued for being account holders of information pages and personal pages that distorted and posted false information about Vingroup; fabricated information about the Group Chairman - Mr. Pham Nhat Vuong and a number of other senior leaders on social networking platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, YouTube...
