On the afternoon of March 18th, according to my observations as a reporter for Tien Phong, to prepare for the trial of Tan Hoang Minh Group’s Chairman – Do Anh Dung and his 14 accomplices, Hanoi City’s Court has set up a theater and arranged thousands of stainless seats to serve the victims attending the trial.
Inside the theater, a large screen is set up to connect online with the court room, along with a sound and light system to ensure the full coverage of the trial for people outside.
Prior to the trial, Hanoi City’s Court summoned 6,630 investors who are considered victims.
In a conversation with me, lawyer Nguyen Van Tu (from FANCI Law Firm, representing defendant Do Hoang Viet) mentioned that by March 15th, there were already 1,420 victims who submitted requests to reduce the penalties for the defendants. Among them, Do Anh Dung and Do Hoang Viet have been proposed by the victims to be considered for applying a special leniency policy.
In their request, the investors claimed that the Dung’s group has fully repaid the bondholders’ money to the State Treasury, showing remorse and repentance, helping investors relieve their concerns.
Currently, the entire application, along with related documents, has been submitted by the lawyers to the judging panel.
A large theater built in front of Hanoi City’s Court.
In this case, Mr. Do Anh Dung, together with his son Do Hoang Viet and 13 accomplices, has been indicted on charges of “fraud and misappropriation” as stipulated in clause 4, Article 174 of the Penal Code.
According to the indictment, Tan Hoang Minh Group had a large amount of debt since June 2021. Unfinished projects and the impact of COVID-19 put the company in financial difficulty, with credit debt exceeding 18,500 billion VND. By January 2022, Tan Hoang Minh’s debt had increased to nearly 20,000 billion VND, not including the debts from 8 bond issuances in 2021.
To have money to pay off the debts, defendant Do Anh Dung directed his subordinates at Tan Hoang Minh Group to issue separate corporate bond packages to mobilize capital.
Accordingly, the defendants agreed that Tan Hoang Minh Group would not directly issue the bonds because of having many subsidiaries and being unable to perform timely audits. Instead, 3 subsidiary companies would proceed to sell separate bonds, including Ngôi Sao Việt Company, Soleil Company and Cung Điện Mùa Đông Company.
It is alleged that these subsidiary companies later conducted 9 separate bond auctions with a total value of over 10,000 billion VND. As a result, Mr. Do Anh Dung and his accomplices raised nearly 14,000 billion VND.
The raised funds were used by Dung and his accomplices for different purposes, which were not in line with the bond issuances’ objectives.
According to the prosecution, Dung and the 15 defendants in this case misappropriated 8,643 billion VND. This amount has been handed over to reimburse the victims.
