Trial opens in illegal gold trading case

Accused members of International Gold Trading Joint Stock Company stand trial in Hanoi.-VNA/VNS Photo Kim Anh

Of the 11 accused, ten were charged with illegal trading in accordance with Article 159, clause 2 of the 1999 Panel Code. They are Mai Xuan Tu, general director of IG JSC; Lương Trần Hưng, director of the Hai Duong branch; Luu Cong Khanh, Luu Trung Kien and Vu Van Thuan, staff of the Thanh Haa branch; Pham Duc Tai, Tran Hong Nhung, Nguyen Ngoc The, Nguyen Ngoc Gioi, staff of IG JSC and Nguyen Doan Hung, director of Nhan Doi Consultancy one member limited company.

Pham Duc Tai, Luu Cong Khanh and Vu Dinh Hung were accused of using telecommunications networks and digital devices to illegally appropriate other people’ property in accordance with Article 226, Clause 4 of the 1999 Panel Code.

According to the indictment, from October 2013 to February 2015, Pham Duc Tai set up IG JSC at 165 Thai Ha in Hanoi’s Dong Da District. The company had branch offices in Hai Duong, Thanh Hoa and Thai Nguyen provinces.

Tai instructed Khánh to purchase software to trade gold online.

Tai and his staff also forged paperwork to create a business license for a fake company called NAPMIG that claimed to specialise in online gold trading. Then they advertised IG as an authorised NAPMIG agency to customers, inviting them to invest in its virtual gold trading floor.

Investigators said IG stole over US $2.97 million, equal to about 4,000 taels of gold.

They also found that IG JSC did not have a license to raise capital or trade in gold bars or deposits.

From April 2012 to August 2013, as director of Nhan Doi Consultancy, Nguyen Doan Hung worked with IG JSC 40 customers to trade gold. Hung’s company got VND 98 million ($4,200) in profit while IG earned VND 230 million ($9,860) through the deals.

The trial is scheduled to end on October 15.