Unable to Prove He Had Two Partners in the Sugar Cane Deal, Defendant Must Pay the Full Amount

A sugar cane buyer who said two other people shared the purchase has been ordered to pay the entire outstanding amount because he could not prove they were parties to the deal.

The People’s Court of Can Tho City upheld a ruling requiring T.V.H. to pay T.V.N. 16 million Vietnamese dong. N. said he sold H. three công of sugar cane by lump-sum contract for 48 million dong in early 2025. H. paid a 3 million dong deposit and another 27 million after harvesting, leaving 18 million unpaid.

N. agreed to deduct 2 million dong for cane left beyond the harvest period that he later sold to someone else while preparing the land for a new crop. He therefore asked the court to order payment of 16 million dong.

H. said he had bought the cane around September 2024 together with two other people. Each allegedly contributed 1 million dong to the deposit, and H. said he later paid N. 18 million dong in two installments. He argued that the remaining debt belonged to the other two buyers.

The two people H. named did not attend the proceedings despite repeated valid summonses. N. denied that they had participated in the transaction and said he had dealt only with H. Both the trial and appellate courts found that H. had not proved otherwise. The appellate court rejected his appeal and kept the original judgment in place, while noting that H. could seek repayment from the other two if a separate agreement assigned them shares of the obligation.