Nghe An Province Tax Department has just published the list of taxpayers owing taxes and other state budget revenues as of February.

According to the announcement, as of February 24, there were 55 businesses operating in this locality that still owed taxes and other revenues, with an amount of more than 1,286 billion VND.

Topping the list of tax debts is Thien Minh Duc Group Joint Stock Company (address 2A, Le Mao Street, Quang Trung Ward, Vinh City, Nghe An) with a debt of more than 1,081 billion VND.

Thien Minh Duc Group Joint Stock Company is a large petroleum enterprise in Nghe An, with Ms. Chu Thi Thanh (born in 1960) as the founding shareholder and chairwoman of the board of directors. She is also the owner of a series of other subsidiaries such as: Thien Phu Company Limited, Trung Long Joint Stock Company,...

Ms. Chu Thi Thanh is the mother of "diamond tycoon" Chu Dang Khoa (born in 1982).

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Thien Minh Duc Group Corporation Headquarters in Vinh City, Nghe An. Photo: AK

Thien Minh Duc was established and operated since 2001, with an ecosystem of many companies and branches operating in many fields such as: petroleum, liquefied gas, real estate, paper production, packaging, logistics, restaurant services, hotels, entertainment areas...

In 2024, the Government Inspectorate concluded that Thien Minh Duc regularly declared environmental protection tax (EPT) incorrectly for the first time and monthly, lacking environmental protection tax; did not declare tax and dishonestly declared the amount of environmental tax payable.

From 2018 to the end of 2021, the total amount of environmental protection tax declared for the first time and the total amount of environmental protection tax re-declared increased by 3,287 billion VND.

Thien Minh Duc at one point owed more than VND728 billion in taxes and was forced to stop using invoices for one year, from July 2023 to July 2024. In December 2023, Ms. Chu Thi Thanh was notified of a temporary suspension of exit from the country.

In April 2024, Thien Minh Duc and 10 other petroleum business units continued to be reminded by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to seriously submit a specialized audit report on the Petroleum Price Stabilization Fund.

Also in 2024, Thien Minh Duc was administratively fined by the market management and had its gasoline import and export license revoked for 45 days due to violating business conditions.

On January 17, the Investigation Police Department of the Ministry of Public Security issued a decision to prosecute the criminal case of "Embezzlement of property; illegal printing, issuance, and trading of invoices and documents for state budget collection" occurring at Thien Minh Duc Group and related units; and at the same time prosecuted 7 defendants.

In which, the police temporarily detained Ms. Chu Thi Thanh and 4 subordinates.

Previously, the Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee issued a decision to administratively fine Thien Minh Duc nearly VND 188 million for late payment of compulsory social insurance and unemployment insurance of more than VND 2 billion, up to November 30, 2024.