On February 29, news revealed that the Supreme People’s Procuracy has completed the indictment of defendant Tran Qui Thanh (former director of Tan Hiep Phat Trading and Service Company – Tan Hiep Phat) and his two daughters, Tran Uyen Phuong and Tran Ngoc Bich, for the charges of abuse of trust and misappropriation of assets.
Defendant Nguyen Qui Thanh before being prosecuted. Photo: V.T. |
According to the case file, the defendant Tran Qui Thanh is a college-educated individual with management experience in the beverage business sector who possesses knowledge of the law. Tran Qui Thanh took advantage of the regulations on lending and transfer contracts in the Civil Code to provide loans with interest rates below the threshold for criminal offenses under Article 201 of the Penal Code 2015 regarding the offense of “Usury in civil transactions” without creating collateralized loan contracts.
Tran Qui Thanh forced businesses and individuals borrowing money to make project and real estate transfer contracts for his two daughters, Tran Uyen Phuong and Tran Ngoc Bich, according to the legal requirements, but at significantly lower values than the actual value of the assets.
Subsequently, this group quickly carried out the transfer procedures to gain control and dictate the assets. When the asset owners fulfilled their obligations to repay the principal and interest in accordance with the agreement, the group used fraudulent means or created reasons for the asset owners to deliberately avoid repayment, thereby misappropriating the assets of four individuals with a total value of over 1,048 billion VND.
Specifically, the group misappropriated the Minh Thanh project with an estimated value of nearly 428 billion VND and misappropriated the Nhon Thanh project, both of which belonged to Ms. Dang Thi Kim Oanh, with an estimated value of nearly 454 billion VND. They also misappropriated 29 plots of land belonging to Mr. Nguyen Van Chung, with an estimated value of nearly 49 billion VND as of March 2020, and misappropriated 4 plots of land belonging to Mr. Lam Son Hoang, with an estimated value of over 80 billion VND as of November 2020. Furthermore, they misappropriated 2 plots of land belonging to Mr. Nguyen Huy Dong, with an estimated value of nearly 39 billion VND as of September 2020. The prosecution agency determined that Tran Qui Thanh’s actions constituted the offense of “Abuse of trust to misappropriate assets.”
During the investigation, although there is sufficient evidence and documentation to prove the criminal behavior of Tran Qui Thanh and his accomplices, Tran Qui Thanh remains obstinate, unwilling to make a truthful statement, and does not fully comprehend the legal violations he has committed.
Based on the investigation, despite being a first-time offender, Tran Qui Thanh is the owner of a business who has made significant contributions to economic and social development and has created jobs for thousands of workers. However, Tran Qui Thanh exploited the regulations on lending and transfer contracts in the Civil Code to carry out criminal actions.
Tran Qui Thanh has committed multiple offenses with cunning and sophisticated methods to misappropriate assets of significant value, causing public dissatisfaction. Therefore, it is necessary to handle this defendant with a strict sentence according to the law to educate, deter, and prevent such misconduct in the future.
Nguyen Huong
