On June 20, the Investigation Police Agency of Di An City (Binh Duong Province) concluded the investigation into the case of "Failure to comply with judgment" and "Tax evasion" that occurred at Tan Tan Joint Stock Company - a famous peanut processing company in Vietnam for the past decade.
Mr. Tran Quoc Tan - the brand's founder, former Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director of the company - was accused of tax evasion and failure to comply with a civil judgment. The indictment recently issued by the People's Procuracy of Di An City prosecuted Mr. Tan for the above two crimes.
Famous peanut brand for decades
Tan Tan peanuts are a familiar brand to many Vietnamese families. They are a delicious, crispy, and fatty snack made from selected roasted peanuts mixed with rich coconut milk, loved by many people.
The highlight of Tan Tan peanuts is probably the quality, flavor and price that is affordable for most Vietnamese people, with a variety of flavors.
The product has become familiar to consumers and is present everywhere.
Established in 1984, by 1997, Tan Tan built a new factory and office in Binh Duong province with an area of over 45,000m2. At its peak, Tan Tan had more than 140 distributors and more than 40,000 retail outlets in most supermarkets and shopping centers, accounting for 80% of the market share nationwide.
Tan Tan also exports to many large markets such as: USA, Korea, China, Nigeria, Cuba...
The company has purchased many advanced technological lines from Italy, the US, Malaysia, Spain, Thailand, Japan and China. Product quality is invested in, meeting the strict requirements of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The company also cooperates in investing and supporting the provision of new bean varieties to farmers in the localities of Binh Duong, Cu Chi (HCMC), Tra Vinh, Nghe An... to have good input materials.
The War of the Decades: Who Was the Founder, Who Is the Real Boss?
Tan Tan Joint Stock Company was established in Binh An Ward, Di An City, with 3 shareholders contributing capital who are family members: Mr. Tran Quoc Tan (80% of charter capital), Ms. Chau Ngoc Phung (Mr. Tan's wife, 10%) and Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan (Mr. Tan's brother, 10%).
Mr. Tan (61 years old) is the general director and legal representative; Ms. Phung and Mr. Tuan are both deputy general directors.
The shareholder war at Tan Tan probably started in 2011, in the context of the company's losses and the bank seizing most of its assets.
In mid-2011, Mr. Tan transferred nearly 3.67 million shares (equivalent to more than 45.8% of shares) to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh (1962) and issued a certificate of share ownership to this female shareholder, but did not record it in the shareholder register.
Ms. Thanh then filed a lawsuit and in 2013 the court recognized her. Ms. Thanh was listed in the shareholder register and registered as a shareholder with the authorities. However, since 2012, Tan Tan has not held a meeting to elect a new Board of Directors and has been losing money, owing a lot of money, greater than the owner's equity and the financial statements have not been audited...
At the end of 2015, Ms. Thanh continued to file a lawsuit, requesting the Board of Directors to be summoned, and Mr. Tan to hand over books, contracts, and accounting documents for mandatory auditing. The court then ruled that the Board of Directors must convene an extraordinary meeting of the General Meeting of Shareholders (GMS) to elect a new Board of Directors... However, the old Board of Directors did not comply with the judgment.
On April 23, 2024, Ms. Thanh convened a meeting of the General Meeting of Shareholders and elected a new Board of Directors.
According to the report of Tan Tan Board of Directors at the 2024 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, at the Board of Directors meeting on May 28, 2022, Mr. Le Hong Phuong was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors and appointed as Director and Legal Representative. Mr. Tran Quoc Tan was dismissed from the position of Director - Legal Representative.
On January 11, 2024, Tan Tan Joint Stock Company was granted a new business registration certificate.
According to this report, as of January 31, 2024, Tan Tan still owes nearly 61.8 billion VND in taxes and nearly 6.3 billion VND in social insurance (as of March 2024). Tan Tan still owes creditors (according to more than 50 legally effective judgments), including many banks.
The report also said that the new chairman, Mr. Le Hong Phuong, was prevented from entering the company headquarters when he arrived. The entire headquarters premises were illegally occupied and managed by Tan Tan Trading - Production - Cultivation Company Limited (known as Tan Tan 2), owned by Mr. Tran Quoc Gia Phuoc (son of Mr. Tran Quoc Tan).
According to the investigation, Tan Tan's business was losing money and had to stop operations since 2013. In 2015, Mr. Tan leased part of Tan Tan's factory to Tan Tan 2 until 2030 but did not pay taxes.
According to the Resolution of Tan Tan's 2024 General Meeting of Shareholders, the General Meeting of Shareholders approved the temporary use of the 2021 financial statement data of Tan Tan Joint Stock Company submitted to the tax authority on March 29, 2022 to prepare Tan Tan's 2022 financial statement.
The General Meeting of Shareholders also approved the 2022 Financial Statements and 2023 Financial Statements.
The resolution also approved the handling of the former company managers, including: Mr. Tran Quoc Tan, Ms. Chau Ngoc Phung, Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan and individuals who were former chief accountants, treasurers... - those who "are illegally holding records, documents, assets, trademarks, brands, logos, websites, and accounting software of Tan Tan Joint Stock Company".
The General Meeting of Shareholders also approved the handover of all records, documents, and assets (including money, deposits, real estate, personal property, tangible and intangible assets...) of Tan Tan Joint Stock Company to the current Board of Directors and Board of Directors of Tan Tan Joint Stock Company at the head office for the company to conduct an audit.
At the same time, through reviewing and handling the responsibilities of the above individuals and the responsibility to compensate for damages caused to Tan Tan Joint Stock Company and the company's shareholders.
The resolution also approved the authorization for the director - the legal representative of Tan Tan Joint Stock Company - to request competent authorities to resolve or implement necessary procedures and measures to take over, manage and use the headquarters, books, documents, diplomas, certificates, electronic data, website, trademarks, brands, logos, accounting software, supplies, raw materials, goods, machinery, equipment, assets, debts... of Tan Tan Joint Stock Company.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/truy-to-cha-de-dau-phong-tan-tan-cuoc-chien-sau-mon-qua-ngot-bui-2308249.html
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