Phạm Thị Hòa is a founding shareholder of Sen Tài Thu Group JSC. — Photo cand.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — Prosecution proceedings have been filed against Phạm Thị Hòa, former chairwoman of the popular traditional medicine therapy spa chain Sen Tài Thu Group JSC.

Hòa, 68, and her accomplices were allegedly involved in a fraud and money laundering case worth more than VNĐ1.72 trillion (US$65.7 million). 

Other defendants – including the company’s former director general Nguyễn Thị Lan Hương, 36, and former deputy director general Nguyễn Thị Thùy Linh, 45. Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Lan, 49, and Nguyễn Thị Thanh Tú, 39, both residents at the Royal City complex in Hà Nội – were also prosecuted. 

According to the indictment, between October 2020 and June 2023, due to financial difficulties and personal spending needs, Hòa, Hương, and Linh conspired to inflate the charter capital of Sen Tài Thu Group, signing fixed-term share transfer agreements to raise funds.

They allegedly hired collaborators, staff and sales agents who were provided with fabricated business strategy documents created by Hương and Linh. These documents falsely claimed that Sen Tài Thu Group was seeing strong expansion with numerous branches opened and substantial profits. 

Prospective investors were allegedly told that by transferring funds to purchase shares, they would receive high dividends and attractive returns. Interest rates offered to them ranged from 9 to 13.5 per cent, depending on the contract term, with timely profit payments guaranteed. They were also allegedly promised the option to withdraw capital before maturity. 

However, after contributing capital, investors were neither granted shareholder rights nor recorded in the company’s shareholder register, the indictment alleges.

Through this scheme, 459 victims invested a total of more than VNĐ1.72 trillion in Sen Tài Thu Group under share transfer contracts linked to Hòa.

After receiving the funds, Hòa, Hương and Linh allegedly used more than VNĐ737.2 billion ($28.1 million) to pay partial returns to investors. The remaining amount, worth over VNĐ988 billion ($37.7 million), was allegedly appropriated by Hòa and her accomplices.

The scheme was exposed after 266 victims filed complaints about the allegedly fraudulent activities. 

According to the indictment, Lan and Tú also falsely claimed to have close connections with senior officials, promising that they could help Sen Tài Thu Group’s management avoid criminal prosecution or receive a lighter sentence. 

Out of the VNĐ26 billion ($993,000) allegedly received to rig the case, they gave VNĐ1 billion to a lawyer for legal consultation for Hương. 

Lan allegedly appropriated the remaining VNĐ25 billion, using VNĐ9.5 billion ($363,000) to purchase an apartment at Royal City, an upscale urban area in Hà Nội, and depositing savings in her daughter’s name to conceal the illicit origin of the funds. — VNS