On the afternoon of March 19, the Hanoi People’s Court continued to try 15 defendants in the case at Tan Hoang Minh Hotel Services Trading Company Limited (Tan Hoang Minh Group).
After being isolated the whole morning, Mr. Do Anh Dung – Chairman of Tan Hoang Minh Group – was assisted by judicial support forces to bring back to the courtroom for questioning.
Before questioning, the court informed Mr. Do Anh Dung that the defendants at Tan Hoang Minh Group, including his son Do Hoang Viet, all confessed that the bond issuance was approved by Mr. Dung. During the implementation process, these defendants reported to Mr. Dung, from the bond issuance, selling to Tan Hoang Minh Group to become the bondholder, to running a fake money flow…
Answering the jury, Mr. Dung admitted that he approved the issuance of bond lots and assigned his son Do Hoang Viet to implement it. The reason for issuing bonds is that in 2021, Tan Hoang Minh’s capital needs are increasing, and the group has to find additional sources of capital, not just from banks.
Mr. Do Anh Dung and the defendants in court.
According to Mr. Dung, before Tan Hoang Minh Group implemented the bond issuance, the defendants knew “other corporations had issued trillions of dong”. With 30 years of experience in business management, the defendants understood that bonds are an effective capital mobilization channel.
The presiding judge asked if, in addition to the above reason, the purpose of issuing bonds is to solve the problem of Tan Hoang Minh not being able to borrow money from banks. Mr. Dung denied, asserting that the group “still has some assets to mortgage”.
Regarding whether the subordinates were notified that the bond issuance plan was fabricated or not, the Chairman of Tan Hoang Minh Group said that as the Chairman cum CEO, he only set a general orientation and did not give detailed instructions.
When the Presiding Judge mentioned the act of creating a fake money flow to transfer 9 bond lots of 3 companies Cung Dinh Mua Dong, Soleil, and Ngoi Sao Viet to Tan Hoang Minh Group, Mr. Do Anh Dung said, ”
looking at it from the cash flow perspective, it may seem fake, but in reality, both the group and the 3 companies belong to me
“.
Admitting the responsibility of the highest executive at Tan Hoang Minh Group, Mr. Dung said he respects the allegations of wrongdoing in the indictment and the investigation conclusion.
However, the defendants affirmed that
“since the bond issuance, we have never had the intention of misappropriating the buyers’ money”.
The defendants only understood that this was a capital mobilization for business and investment purposes.
“Is this capital mobilization justified?”
, the presiding judge questioned. The Chairman of Tan Hoang Minh Group stated that at that time, the understanding of bond issuance was not complete, and until now, he realized that it was wrong.
“The indictment shows that most of the funds raised from bonds were used for the wrong purposes?”,
the presiding judge asked. Mr. Dung admitted that fundamentally it is as the indictment accuses.
The defendants added that as soon as they were arrested, temporarily detained and explained about their own wrongdoings by the investigators, they wrote a letter requesting the judicial authorities to create conditions for them to maximize their damage recovery.
“Although the conditions were difficult, I only met with my family twice, but I tried to recover and rectify all the consequences in the case. Until now, more than 8,600 billion VND has been submitted to the State to return it to the victims. In addition, I also paid an extra 1 billion VND to rectify the consequences”,
Mr. Do Anh Dung said.
