According to the indictment of the Quang Ninh Province People’s Procuracy, Truong Xuan Duoc (born in 1971) and Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh (born in 1975), spouses living in Hai Phong City, established, managed, and operated 26 companies for illegal invoice trading.
As a result of the investigation, it was determined that Duoc and Ngoc Anh traded a total of 15,674 illegally obtained invoices, earning illegal profits of over 41 billion VND.
The land plot is believed to be an address of Pacific Infrastructure Construction Joint Stock Company – one of the “ghost companies” of Truong Xuan Duoc and Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh. (Photo: Vietnamnet)
In January 2005, Truong Xuan Duoc established Khanh Dung Joint Stock Company for illegal invoice trading.
In 2007, after marrying Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh, Duoc and Ngoc Anh jointly managed and operated the company. Ngoc Anh was the Chief Accountant, responsible for managing the accounting department, declaring taxes, legitimizing documents, and completing procedures to establish companies for illegal invoice trading.
Based on the monetary amount recorded on the sold invoices, Duoc monthly purchased illegally obtained invoices from Bui Huy Hop (born in 1972, residing in An Dong commune, An Duong district, Hai Phong) and other individuals and entities for use in declaring input tax deductions for Khanh Dung Company. The invoices were purchased at a price of 5-6% of the value of the goods and services stated on the invoice (excluding VAT).
After hearing that Hop was arrested by the Hai Phong Police in 2018, Duoc realized the risks associated with purchasing invoices from individuals and companies, which could be easily detected by law enforcement agencies. As a result, Duoc and Ngoc Anh limited this method. On the other hand, the couple established new companies to generate their own source of invoices, which they used to declare taxes for the companies that illegally sold invoices.
From 2005 until their arrest, Truong Xuan Duoc and Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh established 26 companies for illegal invoice trading. Duoc served as the nominal director of 11 of these companies.
According to the statements of Duoc and Ngoc Anh, the selling price of invoices was not fixed but fluctuated depending on the market demand. However, it was consistently higher than the purchase price, which was 1% of the value of the goods and services stated on the invoice (excluding VAT).
Law enforcement agencies search the house of Do Huu Ca – former Director of Hai Phong City Police. (Photo: Dai An)
The investigation process also revealed that their management and operation of the companies involved in illegal invoice trading went undetected and unpunished for a long period of time. In contrast, the crime of illegal invoice trading and false accounting in tax payment to the state budget is a serious offense with a statute of limitations of 10 years. Therefore, for the invoices purchased and sold illegally by the two defendants before February 2013, the statute of limitations for criminal liability has expired.
As a result, the two defendants are only held criminally liable for the 15,674 illegally obtained invoices (which were incurred from February 2013 onwards). The total value of goods and services stated on the sold invoices is over 6 trillion VND, and the couple earned illegal profits of over 41 billion VND.
On February 3, 2023, Truong Xuan Duoc was arrested by the Quang Ninh Province Security Investigation Agency for the offense of illegal invoice trading. On February 7, 2023, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh was also arrested by the investigation agency for the offense of illegal invoice trading and false accounting in tax payment to the state budget.
The two defendants were indicted by the Quang Ninh Province People’s Procuracy for the crimes of “Illegal invoice trading” and “Bribery”.
Before being arrested, around October 2022, Duoc and his wife contacted Do Huu Ca – former Director of Hai Phong City Police (a person with a close relationship with Duoc) to seek help in evading charges.
From late October 2022 to around December 2022, Truong Xuan Duoc and Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh met with Do Huu Ca four times and handed him a total of 35 billion VND at his private residence in Kenh Giang commune to evade criminal prosecution by the Quang Ninh Province Police for their illegal invoice trading activities.
However, Ca stated that at that time, he had been retired for many years, had fewer personal relationships, and did not have the ability to help Duoc evade charges. Moreover, the 35 billion VND was brought by Duoc and Ngoc Anh themselves and placed in the living room and master bedroom on the ground floor of Ca’s house.
Do Huu Ca was arrested by the Quang Ninh Province Security Investigation Agency on February 18, 2023, for the crime of “Fraudulent appropriation of property” and was also indicted by the Quang Ninh Province People’s Procuracy.
