Real estate traders flee with $9.6 mil from victims
28-09-2012
 Many people flock to Hong Ha asking the company to return their money Photo: Lao Dong |
The search was carried out yesterday while hundreds of residents surrounded the building of Hong Ha Building Material and Import Export Joint Stock Company in Thanh Xuan District, holding panels asking the company to return their money.
The businessmen in question are Tran Ung Thanh, the company’s general director, and Nguyen Quoc Xuong, Thanh’s deputy.
The two have been charged with "swindling to appropriate assets." They were not present at either their office or hopes when police arrived to investigate their swindle.
In August 2010, under the direction of Hanoi authorities, the Hoan Kiem District People’s committee assigned Hong Ha to develop a project to accommodate people who had to be relocated from an ancient area in the capital
While a contract was not signed between the district authorities and Hong Ha, and the detailed plan of apartments to be provided to buyers had yet been approved by the Hanoi People’s Committee, the company in September 2010 offered about 50 “virtual” apartments for sale on the Internet at VND14.5-15 million ($720) per square meter, much lower than the market prices for similar apartments.
The district authorities discovered this act and asked the company to stop, and on September 9, 2010, the firm undertook that it would halt such offers.
On April 22, 2011, the district People's Committee issued a notice to Hong Ha confirming that all deals related to apartments of the project are unlawful.
However, Hong Ha continued offering apartments for sale, neglecting the authorities' notice as well as its previous committment.
Until the two men fled, Hong Ha had received more than VND200 billion from potential buyers, while no development was begun on the project, which is planned to cover 111,212 square meters in the Viet Hung Urban Area in Long Bien District.
