Bao Tin Minh Chau’s business operations before the owner’s prosecution

Before founder Vu Minh Chau was charged on 2 April 2026, Bao Tin Minh Chau was widely known in Hanoi as one of the larger gold businesses and a popular destination for customers. In addition to gold trading, the company had expanded into real estate activities registered with business authorities, alongside services and lines including land-use rights, gold assay, brokerage, auctions, and retail of jewelry.

Financial performance and reported expansion

In the period before 2023, the company’s profit trailed revenue. Net profit was reported at 4.1 billion VND in 2022, 2 billion VND in 2021, and 3.1 billion VND in 2020. Return on equity was 4.32% in 2023, 3.9% in 2022, 1.96% in 2021, and 3.1% in 2020.

For 2019–2023, total revenue was about 4.5 trillion VND, while net profit was about 15 billion VND, implying a net margin of roughly 0.3%. In 2023, net revenue reached 1.401 trillion VND, up 332 billion VND (31.1%) year-on-year, but net profit was only 4.5 billion VND, up 0.4 billion VND (9.8%).

2024 scale jump and later disclosed discrepancies

In 2024, Bao Tin Minh Chau reported a sharp expansion in scale. Total assets reached 377.8 billion VND, up 3.3 times year-on-year. Inventories increased from 51 billion VND to 327 billion VND. Net revenue rose to 6.952 trillion VND, up 396% from the prior year, while cost of goods sold was 6.78 trillion VND, leaving gross profit of 171.2 billion VND. After expenses, net profit was 49.1 billion VND, ten times higher.

However, investigators later disclosed that actual revenue for 2020–2023 was about 13.7 trillion VND, creating a discrepancy of about 9.7 trillion VND versus tax filings. Investigators said this resulted in an approximate 150 billion VND loss to the state budget.

Capital structure and business registration changes

As of the end of 2024, equity stood at 353.6 billion VND, while liabilities totaled about 24.1 billion VND, mainly short-term debt. Business registrations also reflected additional fields related to land use rights, alongside other gold-related and retail activities.

According to the National Business Registration portal, charter capital was 100 billion VND as of May 2018, with Vu Minh Chau contributing 90.17% and Vu Phuong Nam holding the remainder. Chau served as CEO and legal representative, with 158 employees declared. In June 2024, charter capital increased to 300 billion VND after Chau contributed an additional 200 billion VND, raising ownership to 96.72%. By October 2024, the director and legal representative role was transferred to Pham Lan Anh (born 1976).

Charges and alleged accounting violations

On 6 April, Hanoi Police announced a probe into wrongdoing at Bao Tin Minh Chau. Earlier, on 2 April, the Hanoi Police Investigation Department filed charges against Vu Minh Chau, Vu Minh Tu, and two employees of Bao Tin Minh Chau Ltd. Co. for accounting violations causing serious consequences.

Initial findings indicate that before 2024, Vu Minh Chau and his son Vu Minh Tu directed accounting staff to use two software systems (Hivi Gold, Hivi Gold Pro, and Excel) to manage and declare taxes, and Misa for tax declarations. From late 2024 onward, to evade scrutiny, Chau allegedly ordered Tu and staff to delete data on Hivi Gold/Hivi Gold Pro and switch to Excel combined with Fox AI sales software to manage and track purchases and sales. Investigators said the accounting department then filtered and reconciled data before uploading it to Misa for tax declarations.

Company response

After the founder’s prosecution, Bao Tin Minh Chau issued a statement confirming the case is under investigation and pledged to protect customers’ rights.

Source: Ngoc Vy, VTC News