The mysterious business path of tycoon Vu 'Nhom'

From the aluminum and glass profession, in a short time Phan Van Anh Vu expanded to become a tycoon, owning or holding shares in many real estate companies.

On the evening of December 22, a representative of the Da Nang Police confirmed that Mr. Phan Van Anh Vu (Vu "Nhom") - a real estate tycoon in Da Nang - was wanted. "Unable to arrest Vu at his residence, a wanted warrant had to be issued," a police source said.

The decision to prosecute the accused and the arrest warrant for Mr. Vu were served at his home on the morning of December 22. In the previous 24 hours, on the evening of December 21, Mr. Vu's private home on Tran Quoc Toan Street (Da Nang) was searched by the police for many hours.

Previously, in September 2017, the Security Investigation Agency - Ministry of Public Security issued Document 817 to investigate 9 investment projects and 31 state-owned houses and lands in Da Nang from 2006 to present. Of these, a total of 6 projects were owned by Mr. Vu's company or were related to him.

After investigations by authorities, the veil of secrecy about the business path of tycoon Vu "Nhom" was gradually lifted with a huge amount of assets, most of which were acquisitions and transactions of prime land in a lightning-fast and equally thrilling manner. During the years 2002-2016, Vu "Nhom" held key positions, controlling or being a major shareholder of a series of famous real estate companies.

Vu "Nhom" was once named in the conclusion of the Government Inspectorate regarding Da Nang's violations in land management and use in Da Nang. Mr. Vu is said to have directly or indirectly participated in manipulating the Da Nang real estate market and prime land by specializing in "giving birth" to projects and asking for land from the State. This tycoon's method of doing things is that after the project is approved, he will transfer it to make a difference, bringing in hundreds, even thousands of billions of VND in revenue.

Phan Van Anh Vu was prosecuted and wanted by the police. Photo: CTV

The impressive milestone in Vu "Nhom"'s expansion is from Construction Joint Stock Company 79, headquartered in Da Nang, established in 2002. He holds the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors and is the legal representative of the enterprise. Construction Joint Stock Company 79 operates in many fields: construction, real estate, hotels, restaurants... The total charter capital of the company is 500 billion VND. At the end of 2013, this company increased its capital to 700 billion VND.

Mr. Vu "Nhom" was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nova Bac Nam 79 Joint Stock Company (headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City, 8 Nguyen Trung Truc, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City). He is also the legal representative of Bac Nam 79 Construction Joint Stock Company (32 Le Hong Phong, Hai Chau District, Da Nang City) and has a position in IVC Company.

In addition, he also holds 80% of shares in Phu Gia Compound Company Limited.In April 2015, Vu "Nhom" even ran for the Board of Directors of Dong A Bank at the annual general meeting of shareholders, where he owns a large number of shares (about 10%).

In addition to being the owner or being involved in dozens of public properties in prime locations in Da Nang, Mr. Vu is said to have a hand in nearly a dozen famous projects in Da Nang.

This group of projects includes: Phu Gia Compound project in Thanh Khe district; Phu Gia ecological urban area along the river in Cam Le district; Da Phuoc international urban area project also known as Crescent Moon project, later renamed Sunrise Bay.

There are also the An Don Park project; Harbour Ville urban area of ​​Mega Investment Joint Stock Company; Land plot on 2/9 - Phan Thanh Tai street; Coastal tourist area on Truong Sa street (Ngu Hanh Son district); Restaurant - cafe - bar and marina tourism service area (area in front of Vietnam Television Center in Da Nang) and lot 12, B4.1 area, An Cu residential area expansion, Phuoc My ward, Son Tra district.

The mysterious and thrilling details in Vu Nhom's business path are also reflected in his "suddenly appearing and disappearing" activities. If in a short time, Mr. Vu took control or had shares in a series of famous real estate businesses, then just this year, he suddenly withdrew capital from many places.

Specifically, according to information from Bac Nam 79 Construction Joint Stock Company, on April 26, 2017, Mr. Phan Van Anh Vu withdrew all 650 billion VND, equivalent to 92.86% of capital.

At Minh Hung Phat Company Limited (now renamed Phu Gia Compound Company Limited), the business registration certificate changed on April 7, 2017 shows that Mr. Phan Van Anh Vu withdrew all 40 billion VND, equivalent to 80% of the charter capital of the above enterprise.

With the super project Vanh Trang Khuyet (The Sunrise Bay), the two legal entities related to Mr. Vu are Construction Joint Stock Company 79 and Nova Bac Nam 79 Joint Stock Company from the date19/4/2017 - 28/6/2017 withdrew 100% of capital in the above project.

Nova Bac Nam 79 Joint Stock Company itself no longer has shares of Mr. Phan Van Anh Vu and has changed its name to Chan Phong Investment and Development Joint Stock Company. Just a few days ago, Chan Phong - the predecessor company of 79, with Mr. Vu 'Nhom' as Chairman of the Board of Directors, divested from Seaprodex and collected nearly 400 billion VND.

According to VNE