Thien Minh Duc has many violations, clearly pointed out in the inspection conclusion.

In a report on incidents related to petroleum trading, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that in the first 7 months of the year, the Market Management force inspected and punished a number of key traders such as Thien Minh Duc Group Joint Stock Company; Appollo Oil Joint Stock Company; and Trung Linh Phat Company Limited.

All three of these businesses violated the law on business conditions for key traders in the petroleum business.

Regarding Thien Minh Duc Group Joint Stock Company, the management agency determined that this enterprise did not meet the conditions on the gasoline distribution system according to regulations.

This contact was administratively fined 85 million VND and had its business license for exporting and importing gasoline revoked for 45 days (March 6 - April 21).

Thien Minh Duc Group Joint Stock Company was established in 2001, operating in many industries and fields domestically and internationally with the main pillars being petroleum, liquefied gas, paper production, packaging, logistics, and transportation.

The company is legally represented by Ms. Chu Thi Thanh, mother of Mr. Chu Dang Khoa (famous for his nickname "diamond tycoon").

As of September 2023, this enterprise has a charter capital of more than 2,000 billion VND. Of which, Ms. Chu Thi Thanh holds 77.15%; Mr. Chu Dang Khoa owns 22.77% and another individual holds 0.08%.

In the conclusion of the Government Inspectorate 's inspection of petroleum at the end of last year, Thien Minh Duc Group Joint Stock Company regularly declared environmental protection tax incorrectly and incompletely for the first time and monthly; did not declare tax and dishonestly declared the amount of environmental protection tax payable.

Despite owing the budget money, Thien Minh Duc Group Joint Stock Company still lent Mr. Chu Dang Khoa and Ms. Chu Thi Thanh (Chairman of Thien Minh Duc Group Joint Stock Company) 7,485 billion VND, which is not in accordance with the provisions of the law.

In addition, according to the inspection conclusion, Thien Minh Duc Group Joint Stock Company is also one of many key traders who used the Petroleum Price Stabilization Fund for the wrong purpose, not transferring the account to the Petroleum Price Stabilization Fund but leaving it in the enterprise's payment account.

How did Trung Linh Phat violate?

Trung Linh Phat Company Limited also had its license revoked for a period of 1 month (June 19 - July 19) and was fined VND245 million for failing to meet the conditions on the distribution system; failing to maintain the required reserve level or lower than the minimum level; and committing fraud in declaring and registering the distribution system.

Trung Linh Phat Company Limited is a 100% private enterprise operating in the fields of trading, wholesaling, retailing petroleum and some other fields. This company was granted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade Certificate of eligibility to act as a petroleum distributor No. 188 dated June 12, 2018 and License for exporting and importing petroleum No. 49 dated January 8, 2021.

On the website, this company introduces itself as operating in many fields: petroleum trading, transportation, restaurant and hotel business, resort tourism and import and export.

Previously, this contact was also fined for not transferring the balance of the Petroleum Price Stabilization Fund to a bank deposit account. In March, the Ministry of Industry and Trade requested this company to pay back more than VND26 billion owed to the Petroleum Price Stabilization Fund from November 2023.

According to the conclusion of the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the inspection of petroleum, Trung Linh Phat Company Limited, although being the focal point, is also on the list of enterprises importing diesel oil lower than the oil import limit assigned by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in 2021 in Official Dispatch No. 8266 dated December 22, 2021.

This company also did not send an adjustment registration to the Ministry of Industry and Trade when there was a change in the trader's gasoline distribution system.

Meanwhile, Appollo Oil JSC was fined VND800 million. This unit was fined VND100 million for selling gasoline to entities outside the distribution system and not registering the distribution system.

In addition, the management agency also expanded the verification to 14 businesses buying and selling gasoline with Appollo Oil and discovered many violations such as buying or selling gasoline with entities outside the distribution system. Therefore, the business was fined an additional 700 million VND.