Update: September 23rd, 2024
It has been announced that the Hanoi Capital High People’s Court will be holding an appeal trial on September 25th for the case of Do Anh Dung, Chairman of the Tan Hoang Minh Group, and the victim, Pham Thi Thi. The trial will be presided over by Judge Vu Minh Tuan.
Do Anh Dung being led into the first trial
Previously, after a trial that lasted nearly ten days, on March 27th, the Hanoi People’s Court sentenced Do Anh Dung to eight years in prison and his son, Do Hoang Viet, Deputy General Director of Tan Hoang Minh, to three years in prison, both for “fraudulent appropriation of property”. Other defendants were sentenced to suspended sentences up to thirty months in prison.
Following the first trial, Do Anh Dung presented mitigating circumstances, stating that the consequences of the case had been completely remedied, and that he had made efforts to return all the money obtained from the victims. He also expressed remorse and hoped for leniency from the law.
According to the first trial verdict, in June 2021, Tan Hoang Minh faced significant financial difficulties due to large debts, delayed projects, and the impact of COVID-19. To address this, Do Anh Dung instructed his subordinates to issue corporate bonds to raise capital.
In order to issue the bonds, the defendants colluded to carry out illegal acts, signing “fake” contract transfers, and creating a “fake” flow of money to transfer nine lots of bonds from three companies, Cung Dien Mua Dong, Soleil, and Ngoi Sao Viet (subsidiaries of Tan Hoang Minh), to the Tan Hoang Minh Group to create an “illusory” value for the bond packages. This created a false sense of security, and using the legal entity and brand of the Tan Hoang Minh Group, they fraudulently appropriated over 8,643 billion VND from 6,630 investors.
The jury considered the defendants’ actions to be dangerous and detrimental to society. Do Anh Dung, in particular, played the most prominent role, directing the creation of bond issuance documents, legitimizing primary bondholders, selling to investors, and misappropriating the funds.
All defendants were also recognized for mitigating factors such as full reparation, sincere confession, remorse, cooperation with the investigation, and good personality… Some defendants were eligible for suspended sentences.
In terms of civil liability, the jury mentioned that some victims requested Do Anh Dung to pay interest or other costs, and Do Anh Dung himself agreed to pay interest to bondholders before he was indicted.
However, as this is a criminal case, the jury had no basis for considering interest or unrelated damages. Do Anh Dung’s offer to pay interest is voluntary and not within the jurisdiction of this case; if there is a request, it will be resolved in another case.
The first trial court also explained that, in principle, all defendants in the case should be held jointly liable for compensation. However, in reality, all the money collected was directed to Tan Hoang Minh under the direction of Do Anh Dung. The other defendants were not involved.
Therefore, the court ordered Do Anh Dung to compensate the full amount of 8,643 billion VND to 6,630 victims. The 900 million VND paid by the other defendants was considered a mitigating circumstance, and the court declared it confiscated.
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