Money laundering without documents
Today (March 11), the trial of Ms. Truong My Lan and 85 other defendants in the case of Van Thinh Phat, Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), and related entities is expected to continue with the questioning of Ms. Truong My Lan – Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Van Thinh Phat Corporation, and Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri – former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Van Lang Investment and Management Joint Stock Company, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Capella Group.
In this case, Nguyen Cao Tri is the only defendant to be prosecuted for “Abusing trust for misappropriation of assets.”
According to the investigation, Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri owns dozens of businesses operating in 2 ecosystems. Among them, Capella Group has 28 subsidiary companies operating in real estate, restaurant business, hotels, etc., and Van Lang Investment and Management Joint Stock Company has 7 member units operating in education.
Defendant Nguyen Cao Tri (second from right).
Due to their pre-existing relationship, from 2017 to 2020, Ms. Truong My Lan worked with Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri to invest in projects and purchase shares of some of Mr. Tri’s companies. Specifically, Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri and Ms. Truong My Lan agreed to transfer 65% of the charter capital of Industrial Rubber Joint Stock Company for $45 million. Ms. Lan paid Mr. Tri $21.25 million to acquire 31.22% of Mr. Tri’s charter capital.
However, as the shares of Industrial Rubber Joint Stock Company were not transferred within 5 years, Mr. Tri and Ms. Lan agreed to sign an investment delegation contract and put Mr. Ho Quoc Minh (an acquaintance and intermediary of Ms. Lan, also a familiar person of Mr. Tri) on the contract.
The second transaction was that Ms. Lan agreed to buy 100% of the charter capital of Saigon Dai Ninh Company for VND 3,000 billion. Ms. Lan made a deposit and transferred money to Mr. Tri 5 times, totaling $20 million.
In addition, Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri and Ms. Truong My Lan also agreed for Ms. Lan to participate in an investment project in Hai Ha district (Quang Ninh province) and pay money according to the incurred expenses. Ms. Lan made 2 payments to Mr. Tri, totaling $9.5 million.
According to the investigation, many investment and loan amounts between the two parties are without documents or receipts. In January 2021, Mr. Tri met Ms. Lan at Ngan Dinh Restaurant (Time Square Saigon building, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) to discuss the investment amounts that Mr. Tri had received from Ms. Lan, totaling VND 1,000 billion.
To ensure the above amount, Mr. Tri transferred 10% of the charter capital of Van Lang Education Investment and Management Joint Stock Company to Ms. Lan, and agreed with Ms. Lan to put Mr. Ho Quoc Minh’s name as the owner of the shares. This transfer was not recorded in the accounting system.
Method of misappropriating 1,000 billion dong
On October 7, 2022, Ms. Truong My Lan was arrested. On October 21-22, 2022, Mr. Tri instructed his assistant Bui Anh Tuan to draft price adjustment documents and liquidate all contracts for the transfer of 10% of the charter capital of Van Lang Education Investment and Management Joint Stock Company, as agreed with Ms. Truong My Lan.
Then, Mr. Tri completed the documents and procedures to confirm the transfer of 10% of the charter capital from Mr. Ho Quoc Minh to his younger brother and the accounting staff of Van Lang Education Investment and Management Joint Stock Company.
On October 23, 2022, Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri met Mr. Ho Quoc Minh at a café in Tan Son Nhat airport (before Mr. Minh went abroad for medical treatment), asking Mr. Ho Quoc Minh to sign the liquidation document for the contract transfer of 10% of the charter capital at Van Lang Education Investment and Management Joint Stock Company and the liquidation document for the investment delegation contract of more than 31% of the charter capital of Industrial Rubber Joint Stock Company.
Ms. Truong My Lan’s request for clarification and handling of Mr. Tri’s behavior and recovery of VND 1,000 billion
The Ministry of Public Security’s investigation agency determined that the above actions showed that Mr. Tri had fraudulently devised, instructed his staff to establish and complete documents for the liquidation of the transfer contract and the liquidation of the investment delegation contract to remove the debt obligation to misappropriate the received VND 1,000 billion.
Initially, during the investigation, Mr. Tri asserted that he did not receive any money from Ms. Lan. At the same time, Mr. Tri also sent letters to various places confirming that he did not receive any money from Ms. Lan, acknowledging only the cooperation with Van Thinh Phat Corporation in sponsoring 2,000 breathing machines for COVID-19 prevention for the Ministry of Health and provinces within the country, and that there was no other economic relationship.
During the working process with the investigating agency from December 26, 2022, to January 15, 2023, Mr. Tri still asserted that he had no economic relationship, did not receive any money from Ms. Lan, did not know about the transfer of shares of Van Lang Education Investment and Management Joint Stock Company. Mr. Tri also claimed that his meeting with Mr. Ho Quoc Minh at Tan Son Nhat airport was accidental, and that he did not give Mr. Minh any documents or papers to sign.
When there were results of document examination, confirming Mr. Tri’s handwriting in the tracking documents and confirming the amount of money received from Ms. Lan, Mr. Tri still did not admit his actions. Furthermore, this billionaire even claimed that the Chairman of Van Thinh Phat Corporation was framing and defaming his honor.
As a result, Ms. Truong My Lan filed a petition to clarify and handle Mr. Tri’s behavior and recover the amount of VND 1,000 billion in accordance with the law.
Based on the collected documents, statements of the accused and related persons, the Ministry of Public Security’s investigation agency has sufficient grounds to determine that Mr. Tri has used deceitful methods to instruct his staff to establish and complete documents for the liquidation of the transfer contract and the liquidation of the investment delegation contract to remove the ownership rights to 10% of the charter capital of Van Lang Education Investment and Management Joint Stock Company, misappropriating the VND 1,000 billion he had received from Ms. Lan.
The Ministry of Public Security’s investigation agency has seized assets worth over VND 9.3 billion and recorded 7 properties owned by Mr. Tri and his wife, with a total value of over VND 26.6 billion. Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri’s family has deposited over VND 640 billion into the temporary custody account of the investigating agency to remedy the consequences, totaling over VND 1,001 billion.
Who is tycoon Nguyen Cao Tri?
Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri (53 years old) has held senior positions in some subsidiaries of Ben Thanh Group, such as Investment Director at Ben Thanh Tourist Company (1999-2005), and General Director of Ben Thanh Land Investment Joint Stock Company.
Van Lang University is one of Mr. Tri’s assets.
In 2015, after Ben Thanh Group divested, Ben Thanh Land changed its name to Capella Holdings and began to shift its business focus to the food and beverage and entertainment industry. Mr. Tri was known as the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Capella Holdings.
At that time, Capella Holdings owned many famous brands in various fields such as entertainment (Air 360 Sky Bar, Chill Bar, La Vie En Rose Live Music & Bar), conference and wedding centers, restaurant systems, etc.
At the end of 2018, Capella Holdings affirmed its position in the F&B and entertainment industry after Chloe Hospitality Company Limited – a member of Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri’s ecosystem – acquired Tajmasago castle and Charm Charm restaurant from businessman Hoang Khai (Khai Silk).
In addition to F&B, Capella Holdings expanded its business in real estate with The One Saigon tower, consumer retail, healthcare, education, high-tech agriculture, and many other fields.
In the field of education, Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri is mentioned as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Van Lang Education Investment Joint Stock Company (VLG) – the owner of Van Lang University. However, at present, the Chairman of the Board of the university has changed from Mr. Tri to Ms. Bui Thi Van Anh – Mr. Tri’s wife.
At the beginning of 2023, Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Saigonbank, stock code: SGB) announced unusual information about changes in the personnel of the Board of Directors. Accordingly, Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri – a member of the Saigonbank Board of Directors for the 2019-2024 term – naturally lost his qualifications and is no longer a member of the bank’s Board of Directors from January 19, 2023, following the regulations in Article 35 of the Law on Credit Institutions.
