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The Great Escape: How the Dai Ninh Project Avoided the Chop and Made the Developers a Cool $2.7 Billion

8 November, 2024

Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri, former Chairman of the District 1 Business Association and Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association, had a personal connection to the Dai Ninh project as he grew up in Lam Dong. He was interested in the project undertaken by SGDN JSC, chaired by Ms. Phan Thi Hoa, from around 2017 to 2018.

At that time, the Government Inspectorate (GI) concluded that the project was subject to retrieval. Ms. Hoa showed Mr. Tri Inspection Conclusion No. 929, dated June 12, 2020, signed by Mr. Tran Van Minh, Deputy Chief of GI. The conclusion recommended retrieving the Dai Ninh project, among other projects in Lam Dong.

Mr. Tri and Mr. Tran Van Minh had a close relationship, having studied and obtained their doctorate in economics together. Knowing that Mr. Minh signed the Inspection Conclusion, Mr. Tri met and called Mr. Minh several times to discuss his desire to purchase the Dai Ninh project and requested his help in altering the inspection conclusion to allow SGDN to continue the project.

With Mr. Minh’s advice and support, Mr. Tri eventually succeeded in changing the conclusion from terminating the project and retrieving the land to not retrieving and providing a relaxed schedule for project continuation, which was contrary to legal regulations. Subsequently, Mr. Tri transferred the Dai Ninh project to NVL, profiting VND 2,700 billion.

The Dai Ninh Urban Area project is related to two cases. Photo: Hoang Giam

Testimonies of Related Individuals

During the investigation, NVL’s representative provided a statement regarding the Dai Ninh project transaction.

According to the statement, from 2019 to 2020, NVL’s representative had several meetings and negotiations with Ms. Hoa regarding the acquisition of the Dai Ninh project. In July 2020, when the project was recommended for retrieval by the GI, the representative of NVL learned that Ms. Hoa had submitted a petition to restore the project and decided to wait for the outcome before negotiating the purchase.

In December 2020, Ms. Hoa arranged a meeting with NVL’s representative and Mr. Tri. During the meeting, Ms. Hoa informed NVL’s representative that she had transferred the Dai Ninh project to Mr. Tri, who would be responsible for restoring and extending the project. She suggested that NVL negotiate with Mr. Tri if they wanted to buy it back.

As the project was still subject to retrieval at that time, NVL’s representative agreed to wait for the project’s extension and restoration before proceeding with the negotiation.

In March 2022, NVL’s representative learned that the Dai Ninh project had been restored. NVL and Mr. Tri then signed a confidentiality agreement on May 30, 2022 (with a confidentiality fee of VND 300 billion) and a principle agreement on August 12, 2022, to acquire 100% of SGDN’s shares for a total transaction value of VND 27,600 billion, to be paid in multiple installments.

NVL transferred a total of VND 2,700 billion to Mr. Tri but did not make the payments according to the agreed schedule. As a result, they have not received any ownership or benefits related to the Dai Ninh project.

The investigation concluded that NVL was aware that the contract signed between Ms. Hoa and Mr. Tri was in violation of regulations, as the Dai Ninh project was under retrieval by the GI at the time. Additionally, NVL knew that Mr. Tri would have to “expedite procedures” to alter the inspection conclusion from land retrieval and project termination to providing a relaxed schedule for the project, yet they still signed the share transfer agreement, which lacked a legal basis.

Given the chain of unlawful actions by Mr. Tri and the other defendants in the case, including NVL’s partial fault and responsibility in the transaction (violation of the second payment deadline and awareness of the project’s legal issues), the investigation agency proposed to confiscate the aforementioned amount for the state budget.

The investigation agency identified signs of wrongdoing by several individuals, but due to the time limit for the investigation, the information and materials related to their actions will be separated for further investigation and handling.

Who else is behind Saigon Dai Ninh besides Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri ?

T.Nhung