The Orient Oil And Gas Joint Stock Company (Orient Oil) in Cần Thơ. The company has a tax debt exceeding VNĐ760 billion as of the end of May. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — The Cần Thơ-based Orient Oil And Gas Joint Stock Company (Orient Oil) has a tax debt exceeding VNĐ760 billion (US$29.85 million), according to the Cần Thơ Tax Department.

The amount accounts for nearly 36 per cent of the total tax debt in Cần Thơ City as of the end of May, according to the department.

The tax debt of Orient Oil has resulted in the temporary restriction of the company’s CEO, Huỳnh Trần Hồng Hải, from leaving the country.

Established in 2010 in Cần Thơ City, Orient Oil is engaged in the production and trading of petroleum, solvents, liquefied gas, and petrochemical products, with a production plant capacity of 130,000 metric tonnes per year.

Under the leadership of Nguyễn Thanh Tùng, its former chairman, Orient Oil has faced challenges related to tax debts.

Its tax responsibilities amounted to VNĐ108 billion in 2018, which escalated to nearly VNĐ1 trillion by the end of June 2021.

Last year, the company also defaulted on bank loan repayments, prompting asset recovery measures by the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) due to its failure to repay VNĐ1.19 trillion in principal and interest.

In addition to Orient Oil, the Cần Thơ Tax Department has also identified 162 companies with unresolved tax obligations worth a total of VNĐ1.37 trillion.

Vietnamese authorities are implementing stringent measures to combat tax evasion, including restricting individuals with outstanding tax debts from leaving the country until their obligations are settled.

The initiative aims to recover tax debts, particularly land use and lease taxes, to uphold state budget revenue.

Connection to Vạn Thịnh Phát scandal

Nguyễn Thanh Tùng, the former chairman of Orient Oil, has been implicated in the Vạn Thịnh Phát scandal, according to police investigations.

Tùng was identified as a key figure in the scandal involving financial fraud with Trương Mỹ Lan, chairwoman of Vạn Thịnh Phát group.

Tùng was accused of collaborating with Lan to create fake loan documents to obtain loans from the Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB), resulting in a loss of over VNĐ1.2 trillion to the lender.

Trương Mỹ Lan at a trial earlier this year received the death penalty for financial fraud at SCB and was also ordered to pay compensation of VNĐ673.8 trillion ($27 billion) to the bank.

Other bank executives and State officials involved in the scandal received various sentences ranging from three years to life for embezzlement and violating banking regulations.

Lan owned a significant stake in SCB under various people’s names and was found guilty of using the bank to fund her own company, Vạn Thịnh Phát.

In 1992, Lan and her family founded Vạn Thịnh Phát, one of the country’s most prominent real estate companies.

Her arrest was part of a national anti-corruption campaign which has intensified since 2021. — VNS