VKSND TP. HCM: Indictment of Asanzo’s Chairman Unveiled
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The People’s Procuracy of Ho Chi Minh City has issued an indictment to prosecute the defendant Pham Van Tam (Chairman of the Board of Directors of Asanzo Company) for two crimes: smuggling and tax evasion; Pham Xuan Tinh (CEO of the Company and Tam’s younger brother) for tax evasion.
According to the indictment, Asanzo Chairman Pham Van Tam was accused of tax evasion of over VND 15 billion and smuggling goods worth VND 414.7 million.
Accusation of smuggling goods worth VND 414.7 million
Regarding the act of smuggling, the indictment determined that Sa Huynh Company first registered its business on July 11, 2018; its director and legal representative was Huynh Thi Sa Quol. The company registered its first change on October 5, 2018, with Truong Ngoc Liem as its director and legal representative.
On September 5, 2018, Sa Huynh Company opened an import declaration at ICD Phuoc Long 3 Port, Ho Chi Minh City, with the declared contents including: 970 plastic covers for glass ovens, 940 glass basins for glass ovens, 118 timers for glass ovens, 1,060 plastic handles for glass ovens, and 1,120 grills. The goods were brand new. They originated from China. The total value of the goods exceeded VND 212 million.
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Customs inspection results identified the lot as 1,300 sets of Asanzo brand glass ovens, disassembled and brand new, without indication of origin, which are conditional imports. The Customs Authority did not clear the goods and requested the representative of Sa Huynh Company to work with them.
On October 9, 2018, Truong Ngoc Liem (representing Sa Huynh Company) went to the Customs Authority to request clearance for the goods but was denied.
On December 3, 2018, the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department (now the Customs Branch No. II) issued a decision to transfer the case file of administrative violations with criminal indications to the Investigation Police Agency of Ho Chi Minh City for handling.
The conclusion of the appraisal determined that the seized goods were new and showed no signs of prior use. Based on the product configuration description in the user manual, the components and sub-components could be assembled to form a complete glass oven, with the function of baking food for household use.
According to the valuation conclusion, the smuggled goods were worth VND 414.7 million (including value-added tax).
Former Asanzo Chairman Denies Smuggling
During the investigation, Liem admitted to the crime. He further revealed that Sa Huynh Company belonged to Tam and was used to import glass ovens for Asanzo Company.
When the Customs Authority detected the violation, at Tam’s request, Liem agreed to stand as the legal representative of Sa Huynh Company to work with the customs officials. When the police summoned him, Tam instructed Liem to avoid them and provided him with VND 30 million per month.
On February 28, 2024, the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City tried and sentenced Truong Ngoc Liem for smuggling. Regarding Tam’s actions and those of other individuals, the Investigation Agency separated the case for further investigation.
On July 22, 2024, after obtaining the conclusion of the appraisal on data recovery and extraction from Liem’s mobile phone, the Investigation Agency resumed the handling of the case, combining it with the tax evasion case at Asanzo Company.
By tracing the money flow, from July 2019 to May 2020, Ngo Thi Hien’s account (Liem’s wife) received VND 30 million per month, totaling VND 360 million, transferred by Asanzo Company employees.
Data from Liem’s mobile phone recorded exchanges via WhatsApp between Liem and Tam and between Liem and Le Hai Duong, regarding Tam’s request for Liem to avoid the Investigation Agency and his monthly provision of VND 30 million.
The recovered data also showed that Liem provided his wife’s bank account information to Tam for the money transfer. Liem also wrote a commitment stating that from July 11, 2018, to November 6, 2018, Sa Huynh Company was unrelated to Asanzo Company.
During the investigation, Pham Van Tam denied the smuggling charge. The former Asanzo Chairman stated that he had been using the phone number 0909.XXX.XXX (registered to Asanzo Company) since 2003 until his prosecution. Tam used this number to register for WhatsApp for a while before stopping.
At the time of the incident, Sa Huynh Company imported Asanzo-branded glass ovens that were not properly declared to customs. Through the media, Tam learned that this shipment was related to Asanzo Company. Fearing the impact on his company, Tam contacted Liem (a former employee) to inquire about the situation.
Tam affirmed that he was not the owner of Sa Huynh Company, did not ask to be its director, and did not ask Liem to contact the customs authorities to clear the problematic shipment. Tam denied encouraging Liem to flee or avoid the police and claimed ignorance of Liem’s handwritten commitment.
Regarding the money transfer to Liem, Tam stated that at the beginning of 2018, Liem’s wife worked at Asanzo Company for about two months before resigning. As a former employee facing difficulties, Tam provided monthly financial support, unrelated to Liem or Sa Huynh Company.
Le Hai Duong (Asanzo Company employee) stated that during his tenure, Tam informed him about a shipment held by the customs. Duong relayed this information to Liem, who offered to deal with the customs authorities to retrieve the goods for the company and communicated directly with Tam. After taking action, Liem told Duong that the shipment belonged to Sa Huynh Company (not Asanzo Company).
In July 2019, regarding the situation with Sa Huynh Company, Tam discussed with Duong and Liem, asking Liem to go on a vacation to avoid the police for a while, promising to cover all expenses. During Liem’s absence, Duong knew that Tam provided Liem with VND 30 million per month.
Nguyen Thi Hien (former Asanzo Company treasurer and Tam’s ex-wife) stated that from July 2019 to May 2020, under Tam’s instructions, she gave about VND 20-30 million per month to an employee to deposit into an account provided by Tam. She was unaware of the purpose of the transfer and did not know anyone named Ngo Thi Hien.
The Investigation Agency arranged for Tam to confront Truong Ngoc Liem, Le Hai Duong, Nguyen Thi Hien, and others, but they maintained their statements.
However, based on the results of data recovery and extraction, verification of bank account information, and testimonies of related individuals, the Investigation Agency had sufficient grounds to prove that Pham Van Tam organized and directed Liem to commit the crime of smuggling goods worth VND 414.7 million.
SONG MAI
– 20:49 03/09/2025
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