A man in HCM City was recently discovered to have set up 37 enterprises with the same headquarters in the space of just over one month.
Nguyen Tuan An (right) claims to be the VTI Group’s chief accountant
Vo Van Vi also established two companies in 2009 that have yet to earn any revenues.
False headquarters
All 37 enterprises established by Vi have the same headquarters in a room on 31st floor of Saigon Trade Centre at 37 Ton Duc Thang, District 1, HCM City. The firms are all subsidiaries of the VTI Group Joint Stock Company or VTI Group, which is headquartered on the 5th floor of Indochina Riverside Towers at 74 Bach Dang, Danang City.
The VTI Group website claims that they have 18 subsidiaries in cities throughout the world including New York, London, Singapore, Sydney, Toronto, Johannesburg, and Vienna, in addition to subsidiaries in Hanoi and HCM City.
However, in fact, the headquarters of the 37 enterprises is just a small room in HCM City that VTI Group hired from Singapore’s City Hub, a virtual office leasing firm headquartered at Room 14 on 31st floor of Saigon Trade Centre.
Nguyen Tuan An, who claimed to be the VTI Group’s chief accountant, said that the group’s personnel was comprised of only four members with Vo Van Vi, 31, acting as general director. The reality of the group’s business activities is far removed from their grandiose claims.
According to An, the group operates in real estate with a focus on high-end apartments and offices for rent in Danang. However, the group plans to move it’s headquarters to HCM City in order to switch its business to electricity, maritime trade, steel, milk and mineral industries.
The VTI Group has continued to publicise the establishment of more subsidiaries through media advertising, including a company of with registered capital of up to VND1.45 trillion (USD69 million).
Director of 12 joint stock companies
Vi has to date acted as a legal representative for 39 companies with a combined registered capital of VND6.606 trillion (USD314.4 million), of which 37 were set up between between September 15 and November 3 this year.
Duong The Quang, an official from the HCM City Department of Tax, said among those 39 enterprises, 12 were joint stock companies. The fraudulent claims were only discovered by the municipal tax agency in early November.
Despite the municipal police and Department of Planning and Investment being notified of the misconduct on November 1, Vi still received approval to establish two more enterprises on November 3.
Tran Ngoc Tam, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Tax, said the agency had requested an inspection of Vi’s company headquarter to confirm the group’s personnel and business activities.
“The department has never previously investigated such a case,” Tam admitted.
Under the Law on Enterprises, director or general director of a joint stock company is not allowed to hold the same post at other companies, Tam added.