The People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City has just decided to bring the case of "Fraudulent appropriation of property", "Money laundering" and "Illegal transportation of currency across the border" against Ms. Truong My Lan and 33 accomplices to trial. This is the second phase of the case that occurred at Van Thinh Phat Group. The trial is scheduled to take place from September 19 to October 19.
Continuous loss reports
Several businesses related to Ms. Truong My Lan have just submitted financial reports to the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), most of which reported losses in the first half of 2024, including Bong Sen Company, Setra, and Quang Thuan.
Specifically, Bong Sen Corporation lost 401 billion VND in the first 6 months of 2024, an increase of more than 43% over the same period last year, equivalent to an average loss of more than 2.2 billion VND per day. In the conclusion of the investigation agency, Bong Sen Corp. is on the list of 762 companies related to Ms. Truong My Lan's Van Thinh Phat Company.
Bong Sen Joint Stock Company owns many luxury hotels and restaurants, including Daewoo Hanoi Hotel, located in a prime location, the center of the western gateway of Hanoi with more than 400 rooms. This is one of the famous 5-star hotels in Hanoi, built in 1996, and has welcomed former US President Bill Clinton (in 2000) and other heads of state.
During the trial on March 15, Ms. Truong My Lan proposed to sell the Daewoo Hotel and many other assets to remedy the consequences in the Van Thinh Phat case.
Defendant Truong My Lan said that her family's Bong Sen JSC holds 93.6% of shares at Daewoo Hanoi Hotel, and her family has controlling shares at Bong Sen JSC.
Bong Sen Corp. is a famous name in the southern real estate market when owning a series of restaurants and hotels in "golden land" areas in the center of Ho Chi Minh City such as Bong Sen Saigon Hotel (117-123 Dong Khoi), Palace Saigon Hotel (56-66 Nguyen Hue), 2-star Bong Sen Annex Hotel (61-63 Hai Ba Trung), Lemongrass restaurant, Calibre, Bier Garden, Vietnam House, Buffet Ganh Bong Sen, Brodard cake with a system of 18 stores, Lotus Tours travel agency...
Despite owning a lot of prime land, Bong Sen has poor business results. In 2023, Bong Sen lost 668 billion VND. The loss in 2022 was nearly 479 billion VND and in 2021 it also suffered a loss.
In its financial report sent to HNX, Ho Chi Minh City Service - Trading Joint Stock Company (Setra - STRC) reported a loss of nearly VND 115 billion in the first 6 months of 2024, compared to a loss of more than VND 273 billion in the same period last year. In 2023, STRS lost nearly VND 220 billion, and in 2022, it lost nearly VND 479 billion.
STRC is known as one of the four prominent enterprises related to Ms. Truong My Lan's Van Thinh Phat, with a large amount of issued bonds.
By mid-2024, STRC still has to pay more than VND 3,382 billion, a sharp decrease compared to VND 7,419 billion in the same period last year. However, this figure is still very large compared to the equity of more than VND 409 billion. Outstanding bonds are more than VND 1,998 billion.
In addition, another enterprise related to Ms. Truong My Lan, Quang Thuan Joint Stock Company (QTIC), reported a loss of nearly VND 339 billion in the first 6 months of 2024, compared to a loss of more than VND 641 billion in the same period last year.
According to the investigation agency, Setra and 3 other companies in the Van Thinh Phat ecosystem, namely An Dong Investment Group Corporation, Sunny World Investment and Development Corporation, and Quang Thuan Investment Corporation, mobilized a huge amount of bonds. This amount of money was used by Ms. Lan for many different purposes, not for the purpose of issuance, leading to the inability to pay the bond debt.
3 units owe more than 14,000 billion VND in bonds, late payment
Also according to the report sent to HNX, Quang Thuan Joint Stock Company has a total debt payable as of the end of June 2024 of VND 8,875 billion, of which the total outstanding bond debt is about VND 7,500 billion compared to equity of more than VND 1,374 billion.
In the first half of this year, Quang Thuan was late in paying interest and fines on 60 bond lots (each lot worth VND100 billion). The total interest and fines were nearly VND16.86 billion/lot, equivalent to about VND1,010 billion because it had not yet arranged capital and was "working on a solution".
These are 5-year, secured bonds, issued on August 31, 2020, arranged by Tan Viet Securities (TVSI). The interest rate is 11%/year and the interest is paid every 6 months.
For Setra, in the first 6 months of 2024, the company was late in paying interest for the 3rd consecutive period (including period 5 on February 28, 2023, period 6 on August 31, 2023 and period 7 on February 29, 2024) and penalty interest for periods 5 and 6 for a total of 20 bond lots (each lot worth VND 100 billion). The total interest and penalty is nearly VND 16.86 billion/lot, equivalent to about VND 337 billion.
The reason for the delay in payment is that Setra has not yet arranged a source of payment and the issuing organization is processing assets to pay principal and interest.
As of the end of June 2024, Bong Sen had total liabilities of nearly VND 8,370 billion, including more than VND 4,790 billion in bond debt, compared to equity of VND 5,264 billion.
By the end of 2023, Bong Sen had to pay the principal of BSECH2126003 bonds of VND 4,800 billion and the interest and penalty amount of more than VND 1,061 billion. However, Bong Sen was late/did not pay the principal and interest because "the account was frozen".
This is a mobilized amount issued from October 2021, with collateral, arranged by Tan Viet Securities (TVSI). The interest rate is 10.5%/year, interest payment is due every 3 months. This lot has a term of 5 years, maturing on October 15, 2026.
Tan Viet is also one of the bond issuance consultants of An Dong Investment Group - a business related to Ms. Truong My Lan.
To remedy the consequences of the Van Thinh Phat case, according to the resolution of the Bong Sen General Meeting of Shareholders on August 30, 2023, the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders approved the plan to transfer money to the designated account at the request of the Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Agency.
The congress also approved the handling of the company's assets to fulfill the obligations of the issued corporate bonds. The assets include: Ms. Tran Thi Pho's capital contribution; shares of Daeha Company; mortgage documents of a series of real estate assets (at 56-66 Nguyen Hue - Palace Hotel; 61-63 Hai Ba Trung - Bong Sen 2 Hotel; No. 5 Nguyen Thiep, 93-95-97 Dong Khoi...).
At the congress, Chairwoman of Bong Sen Corp. Vu Thi Hong Hanh said that among the assets that Bong Sen put up as collateral in the bond issuance dossier, there was a collateral asset of shares in Daeha JSC. These are shares owned by Hop Nhat 1 JSC and Bong Sen owns a controlling stake in this company.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/ba-truong-my-lan-sap-hau-toa-lan-2-loat-dn-lien-quan-no-trai-phieu-khung-2321436.html
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