Tan Hoang Minh chairman arrested over bond issuance fraud

By Pham Du April 5, 2022 | 05:17 am PT

Tan Hoang Minh chairman Do Anh Dung at an event in 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Anh Tu

Do Anh Dung, chairman of property developer Tan Hoang Minh, was arrested Tuesday on suspicions of "fraudulent appropriation of assets."

Dung, 61, was detained pending investigation into violations related to the issuance of bonds and the mobilization of money from investors by the group’s member companies, according to Lieutenant General To An Xo, Chief of Office and spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security.

Six other people arrested in connection with the same case are: Dung's son Do Hoang Viet, 29, deputy CEO of Tan Hoang Minh Group; Nguyen Manh Hung, former chairman of the Board of Directors at Viet Star Real Estate Investment Company Limited; Tran Hong Son, chairman of the Board of Directors of Soleil Hotel Service and Investment Joint Stock Company; Nguyen Khoa Duc, chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Winter Palace Joint Stock Company; Le Van Thinh, deputy CEO of Tan Hoang Minh; and Phung The Tinh former Director of Finance and Accounting of Tan Hoang Minh Group.

According to State Securities Commission (SSC), companies under the Tan Hoang Minh Group – Viet Star Real Estate Investment Company Limited, Winter Palace Joint Stock Company and Soleil Hotel Service and Investment Joint Stock Company – submitted false information and concealed relevant information when issuing private bonds.

Police and members of the public prosecutor's office raid Tan Hoang Minh Group's headquarters on Ha Hoi Street in Hanoi's Hoan Kiem District, April 5, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy

These companies issued private bonds to raise more than VND10 trillion (over $437 million) between July 2021 and March 2022.

The State Securities Commission (SSC) on Monday decided to cancel all the nine separate bond issuances citing submission of false information. All these companies are unlisted.

The cancellation of the bonds issuance after successful mobilization of funds is unprecedented. It enjoins bond registration and depository organizations to cease ownership transfer of Tan Hoang Minh bonds in all nine issuances.

However, it is unclear how the matter of bondholders and refunding their money will be handled.

The unprecedented cancellation of successful bond issuance follows a lot of attention that Tan Hoang Minh garnered after bidding to buy a land lot in HCMC's Thu Thiem Peninsula for a record VND2.45 billion ($108,000) per square meter late last year. However, the company decided to pull out of the transaction in January, forfeiting its deposit of over VND588 billion.