The Mineral Mismanagement: Four Directors Face Charges

Prosecution of Nguyen Minh Tuan, Director of Vinh Long Investment and Construction Consulting Company

On October 16, the Economic Police Department of Lang Son Provincial Police announced its decision to prosecute the case and the accused, Nguyen Minh Tuan (born in 1979; residing in Phu Loc 4 urban area, Hoang Van Thu ward, Lang Son city) for counterfeiting documents of agencies and organizations.

Previously, through operational work, the Economic Police Department of Lang Son Provincial Police detected signs of counterfeiting documents of agencies and organizations at Vinh Long Investment and Construction Consulting Joint Stock Company (located on Thai Binh street, Phu Loc 4 urban area, Hoang Van Thu ward, Lang Son city).

This enterprise operates in the field of consulting on survey and design, design appraisal, project management consulting, supervision consulting, and bidding consulting, with a business registration certificate issued by the Department of Planning and Investment of Lang Son province. The legal representative and director of the company is Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan.

From 2022 to June 2024, the Project Management Board for Investment and Construction of Trang Dinh district, Lang Son province, signed a bidding consulting contract with Vinh Long Investment and Construction Consulting Joint Stock Company.

After signing the contract, the company implemented the bidding consulting steps; however, due to a lack of personnel capacity (no staff with bidding certificates), Nguyen Minh Tuan used the certificates of those who did not sign the contract and did not participate in the company’s consulting team to include in the capacity dossier. He also forged the signatures of those with bidding certificates to evaluate bidding documents.

On October 8, the Investigation Police Agency of Lang Son Provincial Police decided to initiate a prosecution of the case. On October 9, the agency decided to prosecute the accused, Nguyen Minh Tuan, for counterfeiting documents of agencies and organizations under Clause 3, Article 341 of the Penal Code.

Prosecution and Arrest of the Director of Thanh Nhut Huy One-Member Co., Ltd. (Kien Giang)

On October 15, the Investigation Police Agency (Department of Investigation of Crimes related to Corruption, Economy, Smuggling, and Environment) of Kien Giang Provincial Police decided to prosecute the case, the accused, and executed the arrest and search warrant for the subject, Nguyen Quan Nhut (born in 1979, permanent residence in Binh Hoa commune, Chau Thanh district, An Giang province), Director of Thanh Nhut Huy One-Member Co., Ltd., for the crime of “Abuse of trust to appropriate property”.

According to the investigation results, from the beginning of 2021 to the beginning of 2022, Nguyen Quan Nhut borrowed, rented, and leased assets (money, gold, and mechanical equipment, barges, etc.) from Mr. N.V.T., with a total value of 48 billion VND, to exploit peat mines in Kien Thanh hamlet (Kien Binh commune, Kien Luong district, Kien Giang province).

Once he had obtained the assets, Nguyen Quan Nhut intentionally did not repay the debt to appropriate Mr. N.V.T.’s property.

The Police searched the residence and headquarters of Thanh Nhut Huy One-Member Co., Ltd. in Phu Hoa II hamlet, Binh Hoa commune, Chau Thanh district, An Giang province, and confiscated many related documents.

The case is being further investigated and handled by the Investigation Police Agency of Kien Giang Provincial Police.

Binh Thuan: Prosecution of Two Directors of Mineral Exploitation Companies for Tax Evasion

The Provincial Police Investigation Agency has announced the decision to prosecute the accused, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Nga (51 years old), Director of Phuong Nam – Binh Thuan Co., Ltd., for tax evasion. The accused, Nguyen Thi Thuy Nga, is subject to the measure of prohibition from leaving her place of residence.

The accused, Nguyen Thi Thuy Nga, declared supplementary tax and issued supplementary invoices for the volume of minerals not declared in 2022 and 2023 to legalize documents, with the amount of tax to be paid of over 1 billion VND.

The Provincial Police Investigation Agency has announced the supplementary prosecution decision for the accused, Tran Van Thuan – Director of Long Thai Viet Company (55 years old, husband of the accused Nguyen Thi Thuy Nga) for investigating the act of tax evasion.

Previously, on September 20, Tran Van Thuan was prosecuted for violating regulations on mineral exploitation under Article 227 of the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017) and is currently detained.

According to the conclusion of the Inspection of Binh Thuan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Phuong Nam Company has not completed the land rental procedures and has not paid enough land rent and winning bid price for mineral exploitation rights but has proceeded with mineral exploitation.

The company actually exploited 82,071.4 cubic meters of minerals but only reported 50,289 cubic meters in its periodic report on mineral exploitation activities and tax declaration.

The inspection conclusion determined that the company showed signs of corporate income tax evasion, value-added tax, and environmental protection fees for the actual output.

In the process of doing business in mineral exploitation, the company committed acts of purchasing, selling, transporting, storing, and consuming 4,802 cubic meters of illegally sourced sedimentary sand, worth more than 350 million VND.

Regarding Long Thai Viet Company, the Inspection of Binh Thuan Department of Natural Resources and Environment determined that this company had violations such as over-exploiting the depth and exceeding the boundaries in the licensed area.

Especially, the company exploited 48,868 cubic meters of minerals but only declared 22,828 cubic meters.