6,600 victims in Tan Hoang Minh bond fraud to be refunded by September

The Hanoi Department of Civil Judgement Enforcement, which is in charge of the money appropriated from the company’s owners, announced this, saying there would be total payments of VND8.6 trillion ($354 million).

As of last Thursday 1,500 had received the refunds, it said.

In March the company’s chairman Do Anh Dung had been sentenced to eight years in prison for masterminding a scheme to swindle VND8.6 trillion through a bond issuance on charges of fraudulent appropriation of assets.

Dung has appealed for commutation of the sentence.

His son and CEO of the company, Do Hoang Viet, got three years for the same crime.

Some investors are anxious about whether they will get the money back since it has been four months since the trial ended.

Vu Thi Mai of the northern province of Lang Son, who had bought VND300 million worth of bonds, has not received her money though she submitted a refund request in mid-June.

She said some people in her hometown have received the money.

Since Dung, Viet and their accomplices turned in the VND8.6 trillion that they appropriated, the court is now in the process of compensating victims, but this takes time.

Phan Viet Binh, an official Hanoi Department of Civil Judgement Enforcement which is in charge of compensation, said that there are many administrative procedures involved.

Every request for refund must be digitalized manually and then signed by four officials’ signatures, which means in total there will be 50,000 signatures needed, he said.

There are now six officials tasked with handling the compensation, he added.

"We hope the victims understand the pressure we face. All victims who have submitted a request will eventually get their money back".

According to the judges, Tan Hoang Minh was a family-owned company in which the nine employees who were tried along with Dung and Viet had no power and merely took orders.

The company faced financial difficulties starting in early 2022, and Dung instructed Viet to find ways to mobilize cash.

Viet proposed a plan to issue bonds through the company’s subsidiaries since Tan Hoang Minh, due to its large amount of debt, was not eligible to do so.

Viet ordered his subordinates to cook the books of the three subsidiaries to make them eligible for issuing bonds.

Viet also approved the mention of fake projects to gain investors’ trust.

The three subsidiaries then issued bonds worth VND10 trillion, which were "bought" by Tan Hoang Minh without paying in full.

Tan Hoang Minh then sold the bonds to retail investors and appropriated VND8.6 trillion from them.