Gang busted for forging bank documents.
Within a few hours, they could complete a set of "Guarantee Certificates" or "Account Balance Confirmation Letters" from banks for amounts up to 40-50 billion VND. Based on these forged documents, some companies used them as proof of financial capacity to participate in bidding and "profit" from contracts worth exorbitant sums...
The individuals involved in the fake document ring.
On July 19th, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Investigation Agency issued a decision to initiate a criminal case, indict and temporarily detain four individuals involved in a ring specializing in forging documents of agencies and organizations. According to the investigation, on July 5th, 2012, Mr. Nguyen Hong Duc contacted an individual named Tuan and requested Tuan's services in providing a "Bank Guarantee for Contract Performance" for Dong Cuong Construction Investment and Trading Consulting Joint Stock Company (Dong Cuong Company). The guarantee amount was 1.865 billion VND, but without the required deposit into a bank account. After reaching an agreement, Tuan agreed to forge the bank guarantee for 100 million VND, received the application for the bank guarantee, and received an advance payment of 50 million VND from Dong Cuong Company. That same afternoon, Tuan took Mr. Duc and representatives from Dong Cuong Company to a coffee shop in front of the Tan Son Nhat branch of a bank, promising to contact the bank to process the guarantee application and giving them the results that same day. While his "partners" waited, Tuan handed over Dong Cuong Company's guarantee application documents to another service broker, Nguyen Thanh Son, and asked Son to process them as requested for 35 million VND. Son then contacted his friend, Nguyen Thuc Dinh, who in turn colluded with a bank credit officer at the Tan Son Nhat branch, Nguyen Phong Linh, to expedite the application process for 25 million VND. Approximately two hours later, the forged documents were completed and handed over to Linh near the An Suong intersection overpass. In the "Guarantee Contract" numbered 60/HĐBL-TSN of the Tan Son Nhat Transaction Office - Gia Dinh Branch of the Agricultural and Rural Development Bank, signed by Director Dinh Thi Hue on July 5, 2012, guaranteeing the amount of 1.865 billion VND for Dong Cuong Company, it was confirmed that Dong Cuong Company had deposited 100% of the above amount into its account at the Tan Son Nhat Transaction Office. In reality, Dong Cuong Company did not deposit any money, and Ms. Dinh Thi Hue was not the Director of the Tan Son Nhat Transaction Office - Gia Dinh Branch of the Agricultural and Rural Development Bank.
To suit the purpose of the entity requesting the guarantee, Mr. Nguyen Hong Duc requested that the individuals involved revise the title from "Guarantee Contract" to "Contract Performance Guarantee" and add the Dien Bien Provincial Department of Transport as the sender. However, this revision was still insufficient because Dong Cuong Company's request required the sender to be the Vinh Long Provincial Department of Transport, and the guarantee period had to be increased from one month to one year. On July 13th, Mr. Duc arranged to meet Nguyen Thanh Son at Quynh Nhu coffee shop on Truong Son Street (Ward 15, District 10), handing over the original "Guarantee Contract" for Son to revise and providing an additional 5 million VND. While Son was receiving the money and documents from Mr. Duc, he was discovered and arrested by the police. Following a swift interrogation, the investigating agency subsequently arrested Nguyen Thuc Dinh and credit officer Nguyen Phong Linh. At the investigative agency, the suspects confessed to acting as intermediaries in the forgery of bank guarantee documents for Dong Cuong Company to gain illicit profits. On July 18th, the police identified and arrested Do Duc Tuan, a crucial link in this network. Tuan typically acted as the main contact person for individuals and organizations needing forged bank-related documents, then "transferred" them to other individuals for profit.
The police have collected more forged documents and seals from this ring. They not only forged "Guarantee Contracts" but also fabricated "Bank Account Balance Confirmations" amounting to tens of billions of dong. Among their "clients" who hired them to forge documents were well-known joint-stock companies and hospitals in the city. The suspects confessed that around the beginning of July 2012, Nguyen Thanh Son, Nguyen Phuc Dinh, and Nguyen Phong Linh forged a "Bank Account Balance Confirmation" for XL Construction Joint Stock Company for an amount of up to 50 billion dong. With this fabricated confirmation, XL Construction Joint Stock Company used it as proof of its financial capacity to receive and carry out large-scale projects. Furthermore, Do Duc Tuan confessed that he and other individuals in this network had previously forged "Confirmation of a 20 billion VND balance at the bank" for Binh A General Hospital Co., Ltd. All these forged documents bore the name and seal of the Tan Son Nhat Transaction Office - Gia Dinh Branch of the Agricultural and Rural Development Bank, signed by Director Dinh Thi Hue.
Ho Chi Minh City police are continuing to expand their investigation to clarify the actions of the individuals involved in the network.
According to CATP-M
