Phuong Thao bus investor accuses director of fraud

(Baonghean) - Contributing capital but not having a name on the business registration certificate, not making financial statements public, illegally transferring assets and business rights... those are the accusations of investors against Mr. Pham Tien Dung -Director of Tan Phuong Thao Service and Tourism Company Limited around bus route number 27 Vinh City - Anh Son.

Contribute capital to do business but not named in the license

Nghe An Newspaper received a petition from Mr. Ngo Dinh Ha, Nguyen Tat Thanh and Nguyen Thi Nhung (all residing in Vinh City) accusing Mr. Pham Tien Dung - Director of Tan Phuong Thao Service and Tourism Company Limited (abbreviated as Tan Phuong Thao Company - PV) of fraud and property appropriation in contributing capital to operate bus route No. 27 Vinh City - Anh Son and vice versa.

According to the petition, in early 2015, Mr. Ngo Dinh Ha became acquainted with Mr. Dung and was informed by him that he was preparing to open a bus route from Vinh to Do Luong and Vinh to Anh Son town and vice versa, and was calling on members to contribute capital to do business.

Believing him, Mr. Ha invited Mr. Nguyen Tat Thanh and Ms. Phan Thi Hien to contribute capital to open a new bus route. Immediately after that, Mr. Dung took Mr. Ha and Mr. Thanh to survey the bus route, and at the same time announced that he had booked a bus to have a basis for the procedures to open the route. On April 16, 2015, Mr. Thanh and Mr. Ha brought 1.930 billion VND (of which Mr. Ha contributed 930 million VND, Mr. Thanh 1 billion VND) to Truong Hai Nghe An Company Limited to book a bus.

Documents and procedures for capital contribution and business cooperation on bus route 27 of Tan Phuong Thao Service and Tourism Company Limited. Photo: Nguyen Hung

After receiving a certificate of registration for branch operations from the Department of Planning and Investment, on December 7, 2015, Mr. Dung, in the name of Director of Tan Phuong Thao Company, made a memorandum of agreement and commitment with the capital contributors Mr. Ha, Mr. Thanh and Ms. Nhung, with the following content: Separate bus route No. 27, Vinh - Thanh Chuong - Anh Son, of the company to operate and collect and spend independently.

The commitment also clearly stated that Mr. Ha contributed 1.3 billion VND to this route, Mr. Thanh contributed 1.3 billion VND and Ms. Nhung contributed 1 billion VND to jointly own the assets of 18 Thaco buses. In addition to the capital contribution, these people also have the obligation to pay off the debt of 17.415 billion VND at the bank.

The commitment also clearly states: “All transactions related to the 18 buses mentioned above must have the written consent of Mr. Pham Tien Dung, Ngo Dinh Ha, Nguyen Tat Thanh and Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhung. Any party in violation must bear full responsibility before the law and compensate the other parties for damages.”

Then, on August 11, 2016, Tan Phuong Thao Company had a meeting minutes of the board of members with the information that the total investment value in bus route No. 27 was 22,235 billion VND, of which the bank loan was 17,415 billion VND. At the meeting, the board of members also agreed that after paying off the bank loan, Tan Phuong Thao Company was responsible for completing the paperwork to transfer the registration of 18 vehicles to the capital contributors.

A day later, the parties signed a business cooperation agreement and the bus route went into operation immediately. However, according to the complaint, Mr. Dung did not complete the relevant procedures as promised. Specifically, the business license did not include the names of the capital contributors. Although he was the executive director, Mr. Dung did not contribute capital to the bus route.

After operating for a while, seeing that things were too inconvenient, the investors requested that this route be separated and operated independently, with Mr. Pham Dinh Thanh, Mr. Dung's younger brother, as the branch manager. The operating efficiency of bus route 27 was also not better, constantly having to cover losses, the bank tightened its debt, so from February 2016, under pressure from the investors, Tan Phuong Thao Company was forced to let Mr. Nguyen Tat Thanh be the branch manager. At the end of 2016, due to health conditions, Mr. Thanh took a leave of absence for medical treatment.

“At that time, Mr. Dung colluded with a woman named Hoai Anh, who was the treasurer, to collect and spend all the money without reporting to the capital contributors. The salaries of drivers, ticket sellers and petrol were not paid, and the revenue was spent for the wrong purposes,” said Mr. Ha.

Secretly illegal transfer?

According to the capital contributors, the bus route No. 27 Vinh - Anh Son has been illegally transferred to Nghia Linh Trading Company Limited, located in Nghi Lien Commune (Vinh City). What the capital contributors are upset about is that during the transfer process, Mr. Dung did not notify or consult the capital contributors; moreover, he secretly took all the transfer money and did not return it to these members.

Reporters contacted Mr. Dung many times to clarify this issue but he did not answer the phone.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen Cong Danh - Director of Nghia Linh Trading Company Limited - who is managing and operating bus route number 27, said that he had just learned about the dispute between the capital contributors and Mr. Dung, and at the same time denied the transfer of assets and business rights of bus route number 27 between him and Mr. Dung.

“When he saw that bus route 27 was losing money and in debt, Mr. Dung raised the issue of transferring it, but I did not agree and I am currently only managing and operating the route. I have paid more than 2.4 billion VND to Tan Phuong Thao Service and Tourism Company Limited for the money it owes the bank, workers' salaries and some other debts,” said Mr. Danh.

Bus running on route number 27 Vinh City - Anh Son. Photo: Nguyen Hung

Through information research at the Department of Transport, it is known that currently, in terms of related documents and legal procedures, Tan Phuong Thao Service and Tourism Company Limited is still legally responsible for bus route No. 27. The Department of Transport has not received any documents or records requesting to replace the operator of bus route No. 27 from any other transport business unit other than Tan Phuong Thao Service and Tourism Company Limited.

After receiving the citizen's petition, the Department of Transport Inspectorate had a meeting with the capital contributors, then requested the Department of Transport to establish an inspection team to comprehensively inspect the passenger transport business activities by bus route 27 of Tan Phuong Thao Service and Tourism Company Limited. If any violations are detected, they will be strictly handled according to the provisions of law.

It is known that the capital contributors have filed a complaint against Mr. Dung to the provincial police. According to Mr. Ha, after the provincial police got involved, Mr. Dung paid Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhung 500 million VND, but the amount that Mr. Ha and Mr. Thanh contributed, Mr. Dung has not yet paid.

Therefore, the authorities need to promptly intervene to clarify whether or not Nghia Linh Trading Company Limited and Tan Phuong Thao Service and Tourism Company Limited illegally transferred the ownership and business rights of bus route 27, in order to ensure the rights of the capital contributors. For the Department of Transport, when receiving documents and dossiers requesting to replace the operating unit of bus route 27 from other transport business units (if any), it is necessary to strictly inspect and appraise according to the provisions of law, in order to ensure the stable operation of bus route 27, serving the travel needs of the people.

Nguyen Hung