“Holding” hundreds of billions to escape
Thuan An Company – where the general manager and his wife “tighten” the debt, fled abroad.Since 2014, An Giang Province has implemented the “vertical linkage in pangasius production” project with the participation of 3 parties: farmers, Thuan An Production, Trade and Service Co., Ltd (hereinafter referred to as Thuan An Corporation), Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam An Giang Branch (referred to as Agribank CN An Giang).
When joining the chain, households do not receive cash, only fish feed, pay for it through the bank, and then sign a debt receipt with the bank. Once harvested, the fish will be sold “exclusively” to Thuan An Company. After that, this company is responsible for finalizing the farmer’s loan with the bank, and the farmer will receive the remaining difference.
At the end of October 2016, General Manager of Thuan An Company, Nguyen Thi Hue Trinh, went on a business trip abroad and then did not return, taking over 62 billion VND to sell fish to farmers. In addition, Thuan An Company owes about VND 495 billion to Agribank CN An Giang. Since then, the chain connecting the pangasius has broken.
A farmer stands next to an abandoned pangasius pond after the chain broke.Lunar New Year 2020 is approaching, but many farmers participating in the pangasius production chain in An Giang are still in debt.
Mr. Nguyen Van Tan (living in Vinh Thanh Trung commune, Chau Phu district) said: About 6 years ago, when An Giang province and functional areas established links to produce and exporting pangasius throughout the value chain, M. was one of dozens of the first participating households.
At that time, he redesigned 5 fish ponds with 2.8 hectares of water surface, and at the same time mortgaged assets of more than 2 billion VND for Agribank CN An Giang to breed pangasius with chain model vertical.
“Tet comes when the family still owes more than 2.7 billion dong to the food agents, I don’t know how to calculate it, while the last pangasius breeding continues to lose money” – Mr. Tan.
In the same situation, Mr. Le Quang Vinh (residing in TT.An Chau, H. Chau Thanh) insisted: “From the beginning of the membership until the time when the leaders of Thuan An Company fled, the farmers have been very successful in borrowing capital. buying food, taking care of the fish and delivering the fish on time, with quality for the business. My family borrowed 9.6 billion dong for food, but delivered fish for over 9.7 billion VND, with over 100 million VND remaining.
However, the bank refused to pay me the excess amount, did not hand over the guarantee of more than 2.7 billion VND, but also asked me to pay the principal, which is unacceptable. The bank also put me in bad debt, which drained my family because there was no capital to do business with.”
So far, it has been more than 3 years since the first chain of pangasius in An Giang failed, the functional departments of An Giang had many meetings, seeking many solutions, but everything is still… “stagnant”.
The pond is abandoned, the property has not been released, and farmers are going everywhere asking for help.Who will take responsibility?
Mr. Nguyen Van Nghiep (living in Long Xuyen City) said, “It should be seen that Thuan An Company is selected by An Giang Province and the bank to serve as the focal point for the implementation. And farmers participating in the chain only borrow money with food, then “pay back” by delivering fish to Thuan An Company.
When the leader of Thuan An Company ran away with money, resulting in a series of failures, this responsibility lies with the functional area and the bank. However, the bank pushed the farmers to bear by forcing payment of the food debt. This forced the farmers to pay their debts twice, as they had previously delivered fish to the company. »
Authorities have determined that the fish households in the linked chain are not at fault, as they comply with the chain’s regulations. Mr. Le Quang Vinh wishes: “My wish is that the bank erases our bad debts. Group 5 bad debt deleted, 5 years later I can borrow again. In addition, the property must be mortgaged and the authorities are responsible for supporting us with difficulties over the past 3 years.”
Mr. Nguyen Van Hoc (residing in Chau Doc City) said that the success of the linkage pilot project will greatly contribute to economic development. Here, this association is seen on a voluntary basis, with the correct policies of the Party and the State, so the farmers participate in it.
“The cause of the breakdown is the choice of a company that is not good enough and does not have enough financial capacity. So who chose this profession? – underlined Mr. Hoc.
Mr. Le Van Nung – Vice Chairman of An Giang Provincial People’s Committee.Mr. Le Van Nung – Vice Chairman of An Giang Provincial People’s Committee said that the chain of ties was formed very early. The leaders of the Provincial Party Committee and the People’s Committee of An Giang want to take the pangasius away, creating forces for the province and the Mekong Delta. During the operation, stage 1 was very good, in stage 2, problems occurred, the dispute lasted until now because the company owner Thuan An ran away.
“The construction policy of this channel is fair. The bank deposit process will be disbursed according to regulations, but the People’s Committee of An Giang Province does not specify how many billions to disburse or when. Farmers are not at fault, but they have to suffer losses,” Nung added.
According to Nung, the provincial chief, Agribank worked with the State Bank of Vietnam to come up with management according to people’s opinions, but was not approved. Farmers’ mortgage papers so far Agribank CN An Giang still retain.
“This is a legal dispute. There is a mismanagement by the state here. The most important thing is that Agribank has a policy but when to disburse, is it correct or not? If the bank disbursed correctly, but that Ms. Trinh deceived both the bank and the farmers, if caught, the investigative agency will clarify,” Mr. Nung said.
Lieutenant Colonel Tran Van Tien – Deputy Captain of the Economic Police Department of An Giang Province Police: This case has already been investigated and prosecuted by the Police Department of the Ministry of public security and was transferred to the An Giang Provincial Police Department Investigation Agency. Jiang agreed. The two main subjects in the case are Ms. Nguyen Thi Hue Trinh and Mr. Nguyen Thai Son. After pursuing the accused, searching and arresting them, the two subjects fled. Therefore, the Ministry of Public Security also carried out procedures to carry out a wanted search for these two people. In addition, two accountants from Thuan An Company were also sued.
The An Giang Investment Police Agency has taken measures for forensic expertise in monetary banking, forensic expertise in finance and accounting, and asset valuation in proceedings criminal charges related to company assets Thuan An Loan Company. This property is scattered in An Giang and HCMC. Because the forensic expertise time is too long, so far there have been no results, so the investigation agency should temporarily suspend the investigation and wait for the evaluation results .
(According to Ho Chi Minh City Police)
