Vietnam fuel company linked to 12 shell companies in 48.1 trillion dong fund transfers
Vietnam’s Government Inspectorate found that Thanh Bình allegedly used invoices from 12 shell companies to account for about 46 trillion dong in fuel sales. About 48.1 trillion dong passed through related accounts. Inspectors have asked police to review the suspected offenses.
From July 10 to October 5, 2026, Vietnam’s Government Inspectorate inspected 260 fuel businesses, including 23 wholesalers and 237 distributors. It found that seven businesses were suspected of serious accounting violations and tax evasion. The case involving Công ty TNHH kinh doanh thương mại xăng dầu Thanh Bình and 12 related companies involved the largest amount.
The inspection findings show that the 12 related companies lacked certificates qualifying them to trade in fuel and did not operate at their registered addresses. Some legal representatives said they were employees receiving monthly wages, while others said their identity information had been misused and they knew nothing about the companies’ operations. From January 2024 to June 2026, Thanh Bình used 4,692 input VAT invoices issued by these companies, recording purchases of about 2.6 billion liters of fuel worth about 42.6 trillion dong to account for sales of about 2.8 billion liters worth about 46 trillion dong.
A review of fund transfers found that Thanh Bình moved about 48.1 trillion dong from 15 accounts to 23 accounts held by the 12 companies. The money then passed through three accounts at two intermediary companies into 26 personal accounts belonging to Nguyễn Ngọc Sơn, the head of Thanh Bình. He subsequently transferred about 13.07 trillion dong to 114 organizations, including about 11.203 trillion dong back to Thanh Bình; he also transferred about 37.88 trillion dong to roughly 1,800 accounts belonging to 1,285 individuals.
A review of fuel movements also found that the same online warehouse release or order document was used for multiple shipments. Some documents for canceled orders that were never collected were still used to report the fuel’s origin. The inspection findings said the mechanism allowing wholesalers and distributors to trade fuel with one another was a common cause of multiple violations. Of the businesses inspected, 253 took part in such transactions, involving nearly 7,760 deals, about 34 billion liters of fuel and about 573.777 trillion dong.
Vietnam’s Government Inspectorate recommended that the Ministry of Public Security direct investigators to receive the relevant materials, review the suspected criminal acts and recommendations to open a case, and report the outcome.
Source: VietVance
