Tan Hoang Minh chairman Do Anh Dung and son on trial for $349M fraud

Dung, CEO of Tan Hoang Minh, Viet, his deputy, and 13 others are being tried by the People’s Court of Hanoi for issuing bonds to fraudulently appropriate assets.

Representatives of related companies and thousands of defrauded investors who bought Tan Hoang Minh’s bonds also attended the trial.

But 1,420 out of a total of 6,630 affected individuals submitted a letter to the court to seek leniency for Dung and his son.

Court employees checking defrauded investors' court summons. The counters are overwhelmed despite having dozens of staff. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

In early 2022 Tan Hoang Minh’s debts had totaled nearlyVND20 trillion, twice its charter capital.

This prompted Dung and Viet to seek to raise capital for the firm by issuing bonds, according to the prosecution.

Due to Tan Hoang Minh’s huge debts, which made it ineligible to issue bonds, Dung instructed his subordinates to use three subsidiaries, Ngoi Sao Viet, Soleil, and Cung Dien Mua Dong, to fabricate non-existent economic activities and collaborated with two audit firms to make their financial reports meet the requirements for bond issuance.

According to the prosecution, the three subsidiaries then issued nine tranches of bonds worth VND10 trillion.

Defrauded investors watching the live broadcast of the trial. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

Dung ordered staff to transfer money back and forth between Tan Hoang Minh and its three subsidiaries to create the impression that the developer had bought the bonds.

This scheme allowed Tan Hoang Minh to amass VND14 trillion from investors by recycling funds through a Ponzi scheme.

By the time the investigation started in April 2022 the firm had used over VND5 trillion to pay back earlier investors.

According to investigators, more than VND8.6 trillion of the remaining funds was appropriated by Tan Hoang Minh.

During the investigation, Tan Hoang Minh and other implicated parties handed over the full amount of VND8.6 trillion to the Ministry of Public Security, aiming to address the repercussions of the case and provide compensation to the defrauded investors, according to the prosecution.