Indebted Canadian gold miner denies central Vietnam tax allegations

Besra Gold Inc chairman David Serton speaks during a media meeting in Quang Nam Province,
central Vietnam on August 7, 2014.

>> Bong Mieu Gold plant likely to reopen next month

Besra Vietnam, which manages two mining companies that are exploiting gold in central Quang Nam Province, made headlines last month for refusing to pay VND297 billion tax arrears despite repeated requests by the provincial tax department.

But David Serton, chairman of Toronto-based Besra Gold Inc, said at a media meeting on Thursday that there has been misleading information about the debt status of Besra Vietnam.

Serton made accusations that a series of newspapers have published inaccurate, misleading, and groundless reports on the gold miner, affecting its plan to resume operations.

Besra Vietnam has had its bank accounts frozen and is currently under coercive measures by the Quang Nam tax department for its repeated refusal to pay taxes.

Phuoc Son Co Ltd and Bong Mieu Co Ltd, the two subsidiaries of Besra Vietnam, have paid VND1.11 trillion ($52.25 million) worth of taxes to the central province, according to the chairman.

The Canadian company has so far invested VND3.25 trillion ($152.97 million) in its Vietnam operations, Serton said, adding that these figures prove that Besra is an excellent business that brings economic and social benefits to the Southeast Asian country.

But the press representatives attending the meeting disagreed with Serton’s arguments, saying they have accurately reported the issue, with official data provided by authorized agencies.

Luong Dinh Duong, deputy head of Quang Nam’s Tax Department, asserted that all of his statements, as well as responses to the media regarding the debt status of Besra Vietnam are totally correct and accurate.

“Phuoc Son Co Ltd and Bong Mieu Co Ltd owe VND297 billion in total,” Duong said, adding that the taxman cannot “keep silent about it any longer.”

“There is nothing to hide,” he said.

“It’s obvious that the companies have been exploiting tons of gold, and their debts are recorded clearly in books and records.”

Both of the representatives of Besra Gold Inc and the Quang Nam tax department admitted that they have failed to reach a solution to the issue after several previous meetings.

Serton even said he had written a letter to Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, asking him to order relevant agencies and departments to lift the coercive measures.

At the end of the press meeting, the chairman withdrew his criticism against the media, saying he fully understood the situation by then.