The People’s Procuracy of Di An City, Binh Duong Province, has officially indicted three key shareholders of Tan Tan Peanut Company on charges of tax evasion and failure to comply with a court ruling.

The case involves company chairman Tran Quoc Tan, his wife Chau Ngoc Phung, and his younger brother Tran Quoc Tuan.

This is the second time the Di An City Procuracy has issued an indictment against the accused, following additional investigative findings by local law enforcement earlier this year.

Background of the case

The initial indictment, issued in August 2024, charged Tran Quoc Tan with both tax evasion and non-compliance with a court ruling, while his brother, Tran Quoc Tuan, was charged with non-compliance.

Both were initially allowed to remain out of custody. However, a trial scheduled for September 2024 was postponed twice due to procedural reasons.

When the case finally proceeded on September 30, 2024, the court returned the file for further investigation.

Following the additional investigation, authorities expanded the charges to include Chau Ngoc Phung, the wife of Tran Quoc Tan, for failing to comply with a court ruling.

On February 14, 2025, authorities took Tran Quoc Tan into custody for further investigation, while his wife and brother were not detained.

Allegations of shareholder misconduct

Tan Tan Peanut Company, a leading peanut production enterprise, was founded with three key shareholders:

Tran Quoc Tan, who held 6.4 million shares (80% ownership)

Chau Ngoc Phung, his wife, who owned 10%

Tran Quoc Tuan, his younger brother, who owned 10%

On July 5, 2011, Tran Quoc Tan signed an agreement to transfer 3.6 million shares to Nguyen Thi Thanh, a Ho Chi Minh City-based investor, for VND 36.6 billion (approximately USD 1.44 million, at VND 10,000 per share). The company issued Thanh a certificate recognizing her as the owner of 45.83% of the company’s shares.

However, after the transaction, Thanh was denied access to key company information, including business reports, financial statements, and board meeting minutes, despite repeated requests. In November 2015, she filed a lawsuit with the Binh Duong Provincial People’s Court.

The court ruled in Thanh’s favor, ordering the company’s board of directors to convene an extraordinary general meeting to re-elect the board in accordance with corporate regulations.

It also mandated that the company provide Thanh with access to company records, including financial reports and board resolutions.

Despite the ruling, Tan and the other executives failed to comply, prompting Thanh to seek enforcement action from the Binh Duong Civil Judgment Enforcement Agency.

When they continued to ignore the enforcement orders, authorities escalated the matter, ultimately leading to criminal charges.

By September 2020, the Binh Duong enforcement agency issued a coercive enforcement order against Tan, Tuan, and Phung. However, they still refused to comply, resulting in an official request for prosecution.

By mid-2023, the Di An City Police Investigation Agency had formally charged Tan and Tuan with non-compliance.

Tax evasion allegations

In addition to the non-compliance charges, authorities also charged Tran Quoc Tan with tax evasion.

According to the indictment, in 2015, Tan leased a factory and warehouse owned by Tan Tan Peanut Company to Tan Tan Trading, Manufacturing, and Agriculture Co., Ltd., a business controlled by his son.

The lease agreement, valued at VND 100 million (approximately USD 3,900) per month, covered the period from 2015 to 2030.

Investigators found that from July 2015 to November 2022, Tan Tan Peanut Company collected approximately VND 8.6 billion (around USD 336,000) in rental income but failed to issue invoices, declare earnings, or pay the required taxes.

Based on these findings, authorities determined that Tan had engaged in deliberate tax evasion.

Xuan An