15 billion VND in damage due to wrong payment, excess payment
Lao Dong Newspaper has many articles related to the " scandals" at Apatit Tam Dinh Lao Cai Joint Stock Company.
Accordingly, on June 20, 2025, Mr. Tran Viet Dung - Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company signed a decision to suspend the work of Mr. Pham Van Luong - Deputy General Director and Executive Director of the mine; Le Viet Dung - Head of the General Department and Head of the Compensation and Site Clearance Team (GPMB Group) and Nguyen Van Truyen - Deputy General Department and Deputy Head of the GPMB Compensation Team.
This decision was based on the reflection of Mr. Vu Cuong Linh, a shareholder and a member of the Board of Directors.
Mr. Luong and Mr. Truyen later submitted a petition to the authorities, affirming that they did not do anything wrong and were victims of slander. They also presented evidence showing the uncertainty in transportation and trading activities between Tam Dinh Company and video player- Interserco Lao Cai Depot delivery Joint Stock Company in the period of 2021-2023.
I was criticized for trying to report and prevent unusual acts in the trading of ores by some individuals here, said Mr. Luong.
After the newspaper was published, the group of reporters had a working session with Mr. Vu Cuong Linh. He provided preliminary verification results from the Tam Dinh Company Control Board along with many related records and documents.
According to the verification results of the Control Board, the process of implementing compensation for site clearance at the No. 01 waste pond, Mr. Luong and Truyen did not comply with the Company's regulations.
These two men have successfully defended 18 records, leading to incorrect and excess payments to unqualified cases. Estimated damage is 15 billion VND.
Mr. Le Viet Dung is said to have only worked in administration, not directly counting, compensating on the field and not for personal gain, so he was suspended for "lack of sense of responsibility".
Documents provided by Mr. Linh show that on March 5, 2024, Tam Dinh Company signed a contract with the Land Fund Development Center of Van Ban district (old) - abbreviated as TTPTQD - on site clearance for the project of 2 waste ponds at Tam Dinh ore mine (the border area of Van Ban and Chieng Ken communes, Lao Cai province).
According to the commitment, the site clearance will be completed and the contract and investment agreement must hand over the clean site to Tam Dinh Company in the second quarter of 2024.
At lake No. 02, the site clearance is taking place quickly. The unusual incident occurred at lake No. 01, where 53 households have rights related to the land of about 31 hectares.
Mr. Linh said that the June 2025 statistics of Van Ban General Confederation of Labor show that the total compensation cost is only about 35.6 billion VND. However, Mr. Truyen and Mr. Linh colluded with households to fake compensation funds, even arbitrarily "spending outside" to households, leading to a total amount ofoverness of 46.9 billion VND.
Mr. Linh cited some cases, such as Mr. Vu Seo Thong's household receiving compensation up to 2 times.
On March 17, 2023, Mr. Thong received 1.93 billion VND and agreed to clear the site. However, in the recent compensation period, nearly 2.5 billion VND was continued to be disbursed. Even after receiving the compensation (2nd time), Mr. Thong's family had to give Mr. Truyen 670 million VND.
"I have repeatedly asked the Compensation Team to provide information on the progress and practical work, but Mr. Luong has not done so. The Company has given 7 days to fix the current damage, but Mr. Luong and Truyen have not done enough. This forces us to take higher legal actions, whether it is prosecution, or inviting authorities to investigate and handle the case, said Mr. Linh.
What did the defendant say?
Talking to Lao Dong, Mr. Pham Van Luong denied the above accusations, affirming that site clearance outside the field was not as simple as the terms in the contract.
He said that the commitment of the Ministry of National Defense is that the site clearance will be completed in the second quarter of 2024. But in reality, this time is just enough to solve problems in Lake 02, because households have full documents and certificates.
At lake No. 01, negotiating with the people is very difficult. People only have trees and assets on the land, but there is no land legality, the number of households is not fixed because sometimes people want to stand with the same name, sometimes they want to separate households...
For that reason, in December 2024, Mr. Vu Cuong Linh, on behalf of the Board of Directors, summoned the Compensation Team to the Company's office to "mentally direct" the additional payment to households to promote progress.
According to Mr. Luong, due to difficulties, it was not until April 2025 that the Ministry of National Defense drafted a compensation plan worth nearly 37 billion VND for 55 households. At the same time, the unit does not regularly send staff to participate in the negotiation and compensation process, but often let the Compensation Team take the initiative in their work.
In April 2025, Van Ban Industrial Park sent me a statement of 55 households and detailed instructions on the price, with an amount of about 36.9 billion VND. In the spirit of "additional spending" as directed by Mr. Linh, I calculated that there were 15 households in the area with a total additional amount of 10 billion VND, only put the figure at 46.9 billion VND, and this figure has been approved by the Chairman of the Board of Directors for payment. I have never known about the number of 53 households and 35.6 billion VND as given by the Control Board," said Mr. Luong.
Regarding Vu Seo Thong's household, Mr. Luong affirmed that the compensation in 2023 will be carried out by Mr. Nguyen Van Diem. When Mr. Diem retired, Mr. Luong took over, and Mr. Diem did not hand over complete documents, so it is impossible to know that this household had received compensation.
"When I submitted the plan to the Board of Directors, including Mr. Thong's household, why didn't I see anyone giving any opinions? Then wait until I finish and catch the mistake," Mr. Luong wondered.
After paying compensation, many conflicting opinions appeared, so the men proactively met with 15 households to collect it. This is the amount of money "spent additional" to households, not the money divided or for personal gain.
"We have recovered 7.7 billion VND (out of a total of 10 billion VND), the rest is facing difficulties because some households do not agree. I don't understand what basis for the 15 billion VND in damage. The report of the Control Board has many untrue figures. I have submitted a petition to the Board of Directors to reject this conclusion and am ready to work with any competent authority, Mr. Luong affirmed.
Confirmed by the reporter, Mr. Truong Vy Viet Hanh - Head of the Supervisory Board, and a member of the Board of Directors of Tam Dinh Company.
According to Lawyer Do Nhu Thanh (Hanoi Bar Association), this violates the regulations on the operation of joint stock enterprises. Because members of the Board of Directors are not allowed to be members of the Board of Supervisors.
"The " grammar" of the Board of Supervisors leading to the investigation results is invalid and will not be the basis for any legal activities, even internal handling," the lawyer affirmed.
