Dalbergia tonkinensis salvage case: "Boss" of wood trading paid nearly 1 billion

While the procedures for support commitment between the authorities and Mr. Thoi (the person who discovered the rosewood tree while fishing) are at a standstill, a famous timber trader in Quang Binh has proposed paying Mr. Thoi 900 million VND to own the tree.

Received nearly 1 billion VND from the "boss" of timber trading?

In recent days, in the Trooc Vuc stream area, Phuc Trach commune, Bo Trach district (Quang Binh), the story of Mr. Nguyen Van Thoi and his son Nguyen Quang Huy (both from Phuc Trach commune) went fishing and discovered a billion-dollar sưa tree stump lying under the stream bed. After discovering it, Mr. Thoi and his son tried to salvage the sưa tree stump. However, because they did it secretly and used rudimentary means, the sưa tree stump was stuck under a rock and could not be brought up.

By the early morning of February 25, the incident was exposed, and thousands of local people quickly came to “steal the loot”. Immediately afterwards, a large force of local authorities, police and forest rangers arrived promptly to protect the scene.

After Mr. Thoi and his son discovered that billion-dollar rosewood was exposed, thousands of people gathered to surround the scene.

After strictly protecting the scene, the relevant authorities of Quang Binh province implemented a plan to support Mr. Thoi and his son for their discovery, to salvage the rosewood tree, and then handle it according to State regulations. But all negotiations failed because Mr. Thoi's family demanded to receive payment in advance (10%) of the total value of the tree.

However, since the appearance of Mr. Hung "Mia" - a famous timber dealer in Quang Binh - Mr. Thoi and his son suddenly agreed to let the authorities salvage the rosewood.

Timber boss Hung "Mía" (wearing a conical hat and white pants) is always present at the scene of the salvage of the sưa tree.

According to many sources close to the local people, Mr. Hung spent 900 million VND to buy the share that Mr. Thoi and his son shared with the State. Many sources also said that at first, the share of the total value of the Dalbergia tonkinensis tree was 10%, but later it was increased to 30% (?).

A trader explained: “The reason Mr. Thoi and his son received 900 million VND from Hung “sugarcane” was because at that time the situation was very chaotic, it was difficult to predict the problem, if they did not receive the money in advance, after the rosewood was brought up, Mr. Thoi and his son were afraid they would not be able to get the money from the authorities. However, after hearing many different sources of information about the percentage division, Mr. Thoi and his son regretted being too hasty.”

Wood "boss" profits 5-6 billion?

After all agreements were reached, the authorities urgently salvaged the rosewood log to shore. At the scene of the salvage, Mr. Hung was always the one who closely monitored and always gave certain instructions in the full presence of the authorities.

At around 1pm on February 26, the sưa tree stump was brought ashore. At the scene, according to initial measurements and estimates, the sưa tree stump was about 2.1m long, about 1.1m in diameter, the distance between the two roots was 3m long, the core had a hollow hole of about 60cm, and weighed nearly 2 tons.

At around 1:00 p.m. on February 26, the sưa tree was pulled ashore. Many people believe that this sưa tree is worth tens of billions of dong.

At the scene, many locals said that this Su tree stump had been lying at the bottom of the stream for at least a dozen years. A mountaineer who specializes in collecting Su wood in the forest said: "With the current price of Su wood, this Su tree stump can be sold for at least nearly ten billion VND."

According to this mountaineer, about 100m from the location of the sưa tree that Mr. Thoi and his son had just discovered, more than a year ago, local people also discovered a sưa tree weighing nearly 400kg. This sưa tree was later bought by Mr. T. and Mr. C. for over 2 billion VND, then sold for nearly 4 billion VND.

“In this deal alone, Hung “Mía” made at least 5-6 billion VND in profit. Not only that, Hung “Mía” also got priority in the auction because he was the one who contributed to the salvage of the wood,” said this mountaineer.

Public opinion suspects there is a "collusion" between Hung "sugarcane" and the authorities?

Regarding the incident, on the morning of February 27, speaking over the phone with Dan Tri reporter, Mr. Pham Van Tan, Head of the Forest Protection Department of Bo Trach district (Quang Binh) said: “On the day of salvaging the sưa tree stump at Troóc stream, not only Mr. Hung but also many individuals and timber trading enterprises were present at the scene. As for the agreement between Mr. Thoi and his son and Hung “sugarcane”, I did not know anything about it. We only focused on salvaging the sưa tree stump to shore as directed. All related issues will be decided by the province in accordance with State regulations.”

It is known that the above-mentioned rosewood stump has been brought to the Bo Trach District Forest Protection Department for weighing and measuring. After completing the legal procedures, this rosewood stump will be transferred to the Quang Binh Province Auction Center for public auction. However, the division of the percentage of the rosewood stump's value has not yet been officially concluded.

Currently, local public opinion is very excited, asking: Is there any "collusion" between Hung "sugarcane" and the authorities in the billion-dollar su tree salvage deal?

According to dantri.com