On the afternoon of March 19, the Hanoi People’s Court continued to try 15 defendants in the case at Tan Hoang Minh Trading and Service Hotel Company (Tan Hoang Minh Group).
After being isolated all morning, Mr. Do Anh Dung – Chairman of Tan Hoang Minh Group – was brought back to the courtroom by the judicial support police to answer questions.
Before questioning, the court informed Mr. Do Anh Dung that the defendants at Tan Hoang Minh Group, including his son Do Hoang Viet, all claimed that the issuance of bonds was instructed by him. In the process, these defendants reported to Mr. Dung, from the issuance of bonds, selling to Tan Hoang Minh Group to become the ultimate owner, to “running” the counterfeit money flow …
Responding to the jury, Mr. Dung admitted that he issued the bond batches and assigned his son Do Hoang Viet to implement them. The reason for issuing the bonds is that in 2021, Tan Hoang Minh’s capital needs are increasing, and the group needs 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 that “other corporations had issued trillions of dong”. With 30 years of experience in business management, the defendants understand that bonds are an effective channel to mobilize capital.
The chairman asked, besides the above reasons, is the purpose of bond issuance to solve the problem that Tan Hoang Minh cannot borrow money from banks? Mr. Dung denied it, affirming that the group “still has some assets for mortgage”.
Regarding whether the subordinates were told that the bond issuance plan was created or not, Chairman of Tan Hoang Minh Group said that as the chairman and CEO, he only set out the common direction and did not give detailed instructions.
When the Chairman mentioned the behavior of “running” the virtual money flow to transfer 9 bond batches of 3 companies, Cung Dien Mua Dong, Soleil, and Ngoi Sao Viet to Tan Hoang Minh Group, Mr. Do Anh Dung said, ”
from the perspective of cash flow, it may appear virtual, but in reality, both the group and the 3 companies are owned by me
“.
Admitting the responsibility of the top manager at Tan Hoang Minh Group, Mr. Dung said he respected the defendants’ accusations of wrongdoing and the conclusion of the investigation.
However, the defendants affirmed that
“since the bond issuance, there has never been an intention to embezzle money from bond buyers”.
The defendants only realized that this was a capital mobilization for business and investment.
“Is capital mobilization like that correct?”
, the chairman asked. Chairman of Tan Hoang Minh Group said that at that time, his perception of bond issuance was not complete, until now the perception is wrong.
“The indictment shows that most of the funds raised from bonds are not used for the right purpose?”
, the chairman asked. Mr. Dung admitted that in essence, it is as the indictment charged.
The defendants added that when they were arrested, temporarily detained, and explained about their own mistakes by the investigators, they wrote a letter requesting the judicial authorities to create conditions for them to remedy the consequences to the maximum.
“Although the conditions were difficult, I only met my family twice, but tried to recover and remedy all the consequences in the case. Up to now, more than 8,600 billion dong has been submitted to the State to return to the victims. Besides, I also paid more than 1 billion dong to remedy the consequences,”
Chairman of Tan Hoang Minh said.
