Police in Hanoi and HCM City announced added suspicions of dubious activities at Phuc Thinh Company, a subsidiary of Rung Toan Cau.

Over 7,000 square metres of land seized by local authorities

All key positions of the eight joint-venture companies were found to be held by family members. Last year, the investigation team on economic crimes, the police of Binh Thanh District, HCM City and officials of the Tax Department investigated Rung Toan Cau and found that, since its establishment, the company has never been involved in any project or business activity there.

One of other companies in the group, Phuc Thinh, was also reported to not have conducted any business activities by the police in Hanoi. Tran Thi Thanh Hang was the CEO in name only, with all decisions made by Cao Van Xung and his wife.

Xung and his wife set up a forest product company in 1992. They were assigned over 7,000 square metres of land to build a factory by Khanh Hoa Province authorities. During this time, the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) introduced a loan program for developing countries. Xung used the land as collateral to borrow over USD220,000 for Minh Thang Textile Company. However, both of the companies failed to pay the debt and Vietcombank was authorised by SIDA to sue Minh Thang in 2000.

After authorities of Khanh Hoa Province seized the company's assets in 2003, Xung set up another company, Thinh An Khuong, in Binh Phuoc Province, taking out loans from banks and individuals for non-existent projects. They returned to Nha Trang in 2007 to set up yet another company called Hien Vinh. Even though the land had been seized, Xung still claimed to own it and used the land to acquire capital for Hien Vinh.

In 2009, they asked the Prime Minister for a loan for reforestation, but were turned down. However, they continued to claim that the project was in the process of being approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Authorities in Binh Phuoc Province warned agencies against having dealings with Thinh An Khuong in 2010, and the Directorate of Forestry reported Thinh An Khuong's illegal activities to the PM.

In 2011, the Directorate of Forestry, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, sent official documents to other agencies, saying that they had never approved any project associated with Thinh An Khuong or Phuc Thinh.