Bao Tin Minh Chau, a company engaged in the production, trading, and retail of gold and jewelry, was previously led by Vu Minh Chau as General Director and legal representative. The legal representative has been changed to Pham Lan Anh since October 28, 2024.
Earlier, several of the company’s outlets temporarily suspended operations to comply with requests from authorities on March 25.
At the briefing, Hanoi Police said that, based on collected evidence, the municipal Investigation Police Agency had launched criminal proceedings and formally charged Vu Minh Chau with “violating accounting regulations causing serious consequences.”
Preliminary findings indicate that prior to 2024, Vu Minh Chau and his son, Vu Minh Tu, Head of the Independent Assistant Unit, instructed accounting staff to operate two parallel software systems to manage business activities and prepare tax declarations. While one system tracked actual transactions, the company used Misa accounting software to file official tax reports.
From the second half of 2024, in an apparent effort to evade inspections, Vu Minh Chau allegedly directed his son and employees to delete all data from Hivi Gold and Hivi Gold Pro systems. The firm then switched to Excel-based records and Fox AI sales software to manage transactions. Data were subsequently filtered, reviewed, and consolidated by the accounting department before being uploaded into the Misa system for tax reporting.
Extracted data for the 2020–2023 period show that the company’s actual revenue reached approximately VND13.7 trillion, about VND9.7 trillion higher than figures declared for tax purposes, resulting in an estimated state budget loss of around VND150 billion.
During urgent searches of residences, offices, and business locations linked to the company and relevant individuals, police seized VND23.3 billion in cash, seven land-use right certificates, numerous documents and items, as well as large quantities of gold- and silver-colored metals.
The Hanoi Investigation Police Agency is continuing to expand the probe to clarify further violations and identify other parties involved.
