Five businessmen arrested for fraudulently selling and renting non-existent apartments.
The group committed fraud by renting out non-existent apartments on a long-term basis, or by signing a contract for the same apartment with two different customers.
The police in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City, have just initiated criminal proceedings and temporarily detained a group of suspects including: Mai Thai An (41 years old), Nguyen Thi Ngoc Giau (38 years old, An's wife), Tang Khanh Tan (39 years old), Bui Van Vinh (40 years old), and Tran Cat Tuong (24 years old) on charges of "Fraudulent appropriation of property.
According to the investigation, An and Giàu are the registered owners of the land plot at 530A Xô Viết Nghệ Tĩnh Street, Bình Thạnh District, Ho Chi Minh City. In 2020, the couple was granted a building permit by the Bình Thạnh District People's Committee to construct a house with one basement, one mezzanine, and five upper floors.
But An and Giàu asked Bùi Văn Vinh and some others to create a different design with one basement, one mezzanine, six upper floors, and 57 rooms – an increase of 12 rooms compared to the actual number.
An and Giàu had mortgaged the land plot to the bank. Therefore, they agreed to have Phu Quy Company, headed by Vinh, sign as a witness on the apartment rental contract. An also hired Phu Quy Company and Bao Nam Company, owned by Tang Khanh Tan, to act as brokers to find customers.
Real estate agents advertise and sell apartments, but only when customers sign the deposit contract do they find out that it's a long-term lease (50 years).
Through two brokerage companies, An and his wife signed 57 long-term apartment rental contracts, earning 42 billion VND. Specifically for the 6th floor, which was not included in the permit – meaning the apartments didn't actually exist – An signed 9 contracts and collected 8.3 billion VND. Of this amount, Vinh received 1.2 billion VND and Tan received 150 million VND.
In 2023, when Vinh's Phu Quy Company ceased its involvement, An asked Tran Cat Tuong to act as the Director of Lava Smile Trading and Service Co., Ltd. (licensed to operate in the healthcare sector) to sign and affix the company seal as a witness on the contracts.
In September 2023, the company's tax code was revoked by the Binh Thanh District Tax Department due to suspicion of being a shell company, but Tuong still used the company's legal entity to sign and witness four contracts.
Furthermore, An also signed contracts allowing two customers to rent the same apartment, defrauding them of money without handing over the property. Fourteen people were scammed into signing such contracts for seven apartments.
