Speaking to Dan Tri newspaper reporters on the afternoon of January 2, Lieutenant General To An Xo, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Security, said that the Investigation Police Agency had prosecuted and temporarily detained Mr. Tran Van Hiep (Chairman of Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee) for the crime of Receiving bribes.
During the investigation, authorities determined that Mr. Tran Van Hiep had accepted bribes related to the Dai Ninh Urban Area, Commercial, Tourism, and Ecological Resort project in Lam Dong province.
Previously, also related to this project, the Department of Investigation Police on Crimes of Corruption, Economy, and Smuggling (C03, Ministry of Public Security) arrested Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Chief Inspector of Lam Dong Province to investigate the crime of Receiving Bribes.
In addition, Ms. Tran Bich Ngoc, Director of the Department of Monitoring Inspection, Handling of Complaints and Denunciations, Prevention and Control of Corruption, Smuggling, Commercial Fraud and Counterfeit Goods (Department I) of the Government Office, was arrested. She was accused of Abusing her position and power while performing official duties.
Saigon - Dai Ninh project related to the arrest of Lam Dong Chairman (Photo taken in July 2023: Khong Chiem).
The process of changing ownership of Saigon Dai Ninh Company
The Dai Ninh commercial, tourism and ecological resort urban area in Duc Trong district, Lam Dong province (called the Saigon - Dai Ninh project) is introduced to have an area of nearly 3,600 hectares, spanning 4 communes of Phu Hoi, Ninh Gia, Ta Hine and Ninh Loan in Duc Trong district, with an investment capital of about 25,000 billion VND. This project covers the entire Dai Ninh lake - a place known as a miniature Ha Long Bay in Duc Trong district.
Saigon Dai Ninh Tourism Investment Joint Stock Company (Saigon Dai Ninh Company) is the investor of this project. Information about this enterprise as well as the process of changing ownership was detailed by the Investigation Police Agency (Ministry of Public Security) in the conclusion of the investigation into the case that occurred at Van Thinh Phat Group, related to the act of abusing trust to appropriate property of Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri with Ms. Truong My Lan.
Accordingly, Saigon Dai Ninh Company is headquartered at 9 Dong Da Street, Ward 3, Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province, established and operating under the Business Registration Certificate issued on January 7, 2010. Ms. Phan Thi Hoa is the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors, Director and Legal Representative.
The company's charter capital when established was 300 billion VND, with Phuong Nam Trading Company Limited contributing 273 billion VND, the rest from other individuals. On October 10, 2017, the company changed its business registration for the 7th time with the charter capital increasing to 2,000 billion VND.
Since its establishment, Saigon Dai Ninh has only been granted an Investment Certificate for one project, the Saigon - Dai Ninh project in Duc Trong district, Lam Dong province.
According to the agreement between Mr. Tri and Ms. Hoa, on December 2, 2020, Saigon - Dai Ninh signed a contract to sell 100% of its charter capital to Ben Thanh Holdings Group Joint Stock Company (a subsidiary of Capella Group owned by Mr. Tri) for VND 5,000 billion. After that, Mr. Tri used Capella Hospitality Company Limited (a subsidiary of Capella Group) to buy it back.
On December 28, 2020 and February 5, 2021, Capella Hospitality Company paid VND 1,530 billion to buy 51% of the charter capital of Saigon Dai Ninh Company.
On September 30, 2022, Mr. Tri asked his younger brother Nguyen Cao Duc to buy an additional 7% of Ms. Hoa's charter capital and paid 700 billion VND.
In total, Mr. Tri owned 58% of the charter capital and paid Ms. Hoa 2,230 billion VND. The source of payment was internal money at Capella Company and borrowed from Sacombank.
After paying for 58% of the charter capital, on January 28, 2021, Saigon Dai Ninh registered for the 8th change, the legal representative changed from Ms. Hoa to Mr. Tri.
Relationship with Truong My Lan
After purchasing shares of Saigon Dai Ninh Company, Mr. Tri agreed to sell 100% of the charter capital to Ms. Truong My Lan for 3,000 billion VND. Ms. Lan deposited and transferred money to Mr. Tri 5 times, totaling 20 million USD (equivalent to 463.5 billion VND).
In fact, Mr. Tri confessed to receiving 1 million USD (equivalent to 23.2 billion VND) and 127 billion VND, and the remaining 19 million USD only recorded payment progress but had not yet received the money.
However, Ms. Lan later did not buy shares of Saigon Dai Ninh Company and agreed with Mr. Tri to add the deposit of 1 million USD (23.2 billion VND) and 127 billion VND along with some other amounts to buy 10% of the charter capital of Van Lang Company.
Controversy surrounding the Saigon - Dai Ninh project
Although the Investment Certificate was granted in late 2010, after 13 years, the project is still unfinished.
In 2020, the Government Inspectorate requested to terminate the project's operations and reclaim the land. The reason for the revocation was that the investor did not comply with its financial obligations after converting the land use purpose, did not prepare a dossier to collect forest products, did not fulfill the obligation to replant forests in place of the converted forest use area and compensate for forest resources, but proceeded to build roads.
The Saigon - Dai Ninh project is still unfinished after 13 years (Photo taken in July 2023: Khong Chiem).
In July 2021, the Government Inspectorate withdrew this revocation request. The Provincial People's Committee instructed the investor to carry out procedures to extend the project schedule and adjust the project according to the 2014 Investment Law and extend land use according to the 2013 Land Law. The Government Inspectorate requested the investor to complete the project as committed and implement the investment according to the approved scale.
After that, Saigon Dai Ninh Company requested Lam Dong provincial authorities to consider adjusting the project implementation progress and total investment of the project. The investor proposed to increase the total investment from over VND 25,000 billion to over VND 30,200 billion. At the same time, the scale of land use remained unchanged.
In addition, the project has also been involved in many legal disputes. In October 2021, Lam Dong Department of Finance reported that the project's lost forest area was more than 257 hectares. Of which, more than 140 hectares were determined by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2016. The Department of Finance approved the forest resource compensation value of more than 6.6 billion VND, which Saigon - Dai Ninh Company has paid in full.
The remaining 117ha of forest area is determined to have a reserve of 3,449 m3. The Department determined the compensation value to be more than 12 billion VND.
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