What does the project manager of 'Sponsoring Children in Quang Nam' say about accusations of lack of transparency?

They only provide statements for one account but continuously provide statements for another account.

In recent days, social media has been abuzz with allegations that Ms. Pham Hoai Tran (the person in charge of the "Sponsoring Children in Quang Nam " project) lacked financial transparency.

Specifically, Ms. Tran allegedly only published bank statements from an account under her own name, while in reality she provided multiple other account numbers to receive donations.

Người điều hành dự án — Approximately 3,500 students in the former Quang Nam province (now Da Nang City) have benefited from the "Nurturing Children of Quang Nam" project.

Ms. Huyen Trang (from Hanoi ), who has been involved in raising two young children since 2024, said that in the private group for "foster siblings," Ms. Tran always asserted that she only used the account Pham Hoai Tran to receive contributions.

The bank statement posts in the group also only showed this account. However, upon reviewing old messages, Ms. Trang discovered that at the end of April 2024, Ms. Tran had sent her several other accounts under the name "Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huyen" for transferring money.

When asked for the reason, Tran explained that her account had been hacked and that sending a different account number only happened for a short period of time. However, this explanation was refuted by other members because it did not match the timing.

An acquaintance of Ms. Trang received the account number of Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huyen in March 2024, a month earlier than Ms. Trang claimed it was "only hacked for one day." This person even continued to receive the account number of Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huyen when renewing their guardianship in subsequent years, indicating that the account was used regularly and not just appeared at the time it was "hacked."

Suspicion increased when many other members commented that they had been asked to transfer money to Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huyen's account in previous years, even as far back as 2022. Notably, some members also received information about another account under the name "Le Thi Lan".

According to initial reports from members, at least three accounts were used by Ms. Tran to receive money: Pham Hoai Tran, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huyen, and Le Thi Lan. However, in the bank statements publicly posted in the private group, only the Pham Hoai Tran account appears; the other two accounts have no evidence of income or expenses disclosed.

After Ms. Huyen Trang publicly questioned the inconsistencies between the accounts receiving the money, her comment was deleted and she was removed from the private group.

According to reports, not only Ms. Trang, but even those who are still caring for the child this year have been "kicked" out of the group. This prevents members from reviewing important documents that were previously stored.

Furthermore, unlike many "Sponsor Children" projects in other localities, the project in Quang Nam does not have an official fan page. All information (children's names, contribution lists, bank statements, income and expenditure reports, etc.) is only posted on Ms. Pham Hoai Tran's personal Facebook page and shared in a private group, making it impossible for the outside community to monitor.

In addition, the change in the code assignment model is also causing concern. Previously, codes were assigned directly to each child. However, according to Ms. Tran's feedback, the codes are now assigned to benefactors, and the adopted children are randomly assigned a code.

Many people are concerned that this change will affect the transparency and the ability to verify that donations match the actual information of the children being fostered.

Ms. Trang stated that the cost of raising each child is 1.18 million VND per year. According to documents she saw before being removed from the group, the membership code had reached over 3,000 people.

Another member of the group reported that his group was supporting 83 children but was asked to transfer money to Le Thi Lan's account. Upon checking the bank statement, he only found 3 children whose information matched, raising serious doubts about the accuracy of the list.

"We haven't deleted any members and have maintained transparency for 7 years."

Speaking to a reporter from Thanh Niên newspaper , Ms. Pham Hoai Tran affirmed that her project has been running for the past 7 years and has never removed any "foster siblings," except in cases where they completely stopped supporting their children for 2-3 years and no longer needed to be monitored.

"I've always managed only one account. Every transaction is recorded in the group so everyone can track it. Statements, messages, money transfer confirmations, and reports from the school are all posted regularly," Ms. Tran said.

She explained that the other accounts appeared because malicious individuals had hacked Facebook, copied images of the children, and created fake accounts in her name to trick people into transferring money to completely different bank accounts.

Each time this happened, she immediately worked with Facebook, tightened security, and publicly announced in the group: "Only my account, Pham Hoai Tran, receives money. If anyone accidentally transfers money to an unfamiliar account, I will try to return the scammed amount."

"The hacking of Facebook is beyond my control. I hope that anyone who has been scammed into transferring money to other bank accounts will report it to the police so that the authorities can verify the real account holder," Ms. Tran shared.

Ms. Tran stated that most of the harsh comments online did not come from within the group. Regarding the commenter who claimed to have "adopted 83 children," Ms. Tran checked the transaction records and found that this person only transferred money for 3 children. When questioned, this person confirmed they were "no longer adopting" but did not edit the old comment, causing significant misunderstanding on social media.

In addition, she answers members' questions on a case-by-case basis, assists with checking identification numbers, confirms pet ownership, and explains each individual's concerns.

Ms. Tran said that the project learned from Mr. Hoang Hoa Trung's model and adapted it accordingly. Every month, the school sends confirmation of the amount received and the number of meals provided, which she posts in full on the group. Annual statements are printed and stored in full.

"Over the past seven years, approximately 3,500 children have been fed in the mountains; that's no small feat. I affirm that the finances are always transparent, and we will be ready to work with relevant authorities when necessary," emphasized the project manager of "Feeding Children in Quang Nam."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nguoi-dieu-hanh-du-an-nuoi-em-quang-nam-noi-gi-khi-bi-to-thieu-minh-bach-185251211143815232.htm