Three Siblings of Real Estate Magnate Indicted for Land Fraud

The headquarters of Housing Development and Trading Joint Stock Company (HDTC) is pictured.

Three siblings of real estate magnate Dinh Truong Chinh face charges of abusing trust and appropriating property. Dinh Truong Chinh, former chairman of HDTC, along with his older brother Dinh Chi Minh, former general director, and sister Dinh Ngoc Thien Huong, are accused of failing to deliver land to customers who purchased it up to 20 years ago.

According to the indictment, Dinh Truong Chinh, who held a controlling 70% stake in HDTC, decided not to transfer assets to customers under contracts signed in 1998. He allegedly instructed Dinh Chi Minh to seize the value of assets previously transferred by customers Van Bao Ngoc, Nguyen Thi Hanh, Ha Van Cun, and Truong Thanh Tam. These assets were then resold to new buyers, generating a total of 199 billion VND.

Furthermore, Dinh Truong Chinh is accused of directing Dinh Ngoc Thien Huong, Dinh Chi Minh, and others to sell HDTC land plots to customers while under-reporting the actual sale prices. This scheme allegedly allowed them to embezzle a difference of 141.7 billion VND for Chinh's personal use. Dinh Ngoc Thien Huong, who is currently on the run, managed land sales in the An Phu - An Khanh project between 2016 and September 2018. She negotiated prices, signed agreements, and received payments, while also instructing staff to falsify sale documents to conceal the illicit gains. She personally managed over 82.1 billion VND in these discrepancies.

Dinh Chi Minh, despite knowing the land plots were already contracted to previous buyers before the company's privatization, proceeded with the sales under his brother's orders. He negotiated prices with new buyers and instructed employees to process the transfers. He also managed and handed over the off-the-books cash differences as directed by Chinh. The case previously received attention in a Tuoi Tre Online article titled "After Privatization, Company Goes Back on Deals with Customers."