Owners of bogus companies arrested in Hanoi

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According to the Investigation Agency, the three arrested including Pham Hong Son, 53, resident of Duong Noi, Ha Dong district; Tao Duy Hien,36, resident of Dong Da district, Pham Dinh Don, 23, resident of Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi.

Pham Hong Son.

Since 2016, Son has set up and used a number of bogus companies to sell 50 VAT invoice books for 30 billion VND, making a profit of nearly 1.5 billion VND. Hien, his partner, made a profit of 320 million VND.

By purchasing personal identity cards from the pawnshops for 3-5 million per card, these subjects hired various law firms to set up companies under the names of the acquired ID cards.

Exhibits seized from suspects' apartments.

With the trick, Son had 11 bogus companies, which were inactive, neither producing nor trading anything. But Son and his accomplices used the companies to trade VAT invoices for profit.

Under Son’s direction, his accomplices sought other enterprises that needed VAT invoices and sold them to the firms for profit. Normally, buyers had to pay Son 5% of the total value of the invoices, some of which might be worth hundreds of millions of VND.

In the suspects’ apartments, the Hanoi Police has seized 13 seals belonging to the 11 bogus company founded by Son; 105 blank VAT invoice books; 18 containers with 200 books of VAT invoice coupons.

The police are expanding the case to find out involved people and companies.