The case of an investor accused of capital appropriation: New move

On December 23, speaking with a reporter from Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper , TNTP International Law Company Limited & Associates, representatives of two customers who signed a contract to deposit and pay for an apartment at the Rome By Diamond Lotus project (No. 50 Mai Chi Tho Avenue, An Phu Ward, Thu Duc City) invested by Phuc Khang Investment and Construction Joint Stock Company (Phuc Khang, headquartered in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City), said that Phuc Khang had repeatedly called to request the customers/legal representatives to come to the company's headquarters (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City) on December 22 to continue negotiating the time to refund the amount that the customers had paid.

However, representatives of the two customers said that they had worked with Phuc Khang many times but did not achieve results, only signed the minutes and then left.

"We have not yet worked with Phuc Khang because we are waiting for feedback from the client. In addition, we are reviewing the liquidation minutes because there are many unfavorable terms. Before the reflection of Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, we have worked with them (Phuc Khang) 3 times but have not been satisfactorily handled" - the above law firm informed.

On behalf of the investor, Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Huong, Marketing Director of Phuc Khang, confirmed that she had contacted the customer to negotiate the time to refund the amount paid by the customer.

"We invite customers to the company to finalize payment time" - Ms. Huong said.

Rome By Diamond Lotus project has been fenced for many years but still has not started construction.

Regarding the legal factors of the unfinished Rome By Diamond Lotus project, specifically the project has not been approved for investment policy, but since 2018 Phuc Khang has consulted, signed a deposit contract and promised to hand over apartments to customers, reporters of Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper have contacted the Department of Planning and Investment (KH-DT) of Ho Chi Minh City many times to ask for information about the project, but up to this point the Department has not yet had an official response.

Meanwhile, according to a source from Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, last July, the Department of Planning and Investment of Ho Chi Minh City issued Document No. 8221 dated July 4, 2023, stating that Phuc Khang had submitted a request for approval of the investment policy and was coordinating with relevant agencies for further processing.

In the minutes of the meeting on August 22, 2023, between Phuc Khang and the legal representatives of the two above-mentioned customers, Phuc Khang said that the legal documents of the project are at the stage of appraisal and approval by the People's Committee of Thu Duc City and "it is expected that by 2025, the project's legal documents will be basically resolved and the next steps will be carried out (approval of investment policy, construction permit...).

From that, it can be seen that from 2018 until now, the Rome By Diamond Lotus project has not yet completed the legal procedures, so it is not possible to proceed with the next steps as committed to customers in the deposit contract. In fact, up to this point, the inside of the project is still an empty lot. Outside the project, the fences and surrounding billboards have all faded.

Interior image of Rome By Diamond Lotus project.

Deposit, payment for 5 years still no house

Previously, Mr. Beed Bijal Motichand (Indian nationality) and Mr. Daryanani Ajay Lachman (British nationality) sent a petition to Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, reporting that Phuc Khang Investment and Construction Joint Stock Company had appropriated money and provided false information about the Rome By Diamond Lotus project.

According to the petition, on November 28, 2018, Mr. Beed Bijal Motichand and Phuc Khang signed deposit contract No. 81/2018/HDDC/PK to ensure the signing of the sale and purchase contract for apartment No. A16.CASA 1.2 of the Rome by Diamond Lotus project with a total value of 5.4 billion VND after the project meets all the conditions for sale and purchase as prescribed by law.

In the deposit contract appendix, Phuc Khang committed to notify the customer of the apartment sale and purchase contract on December 1, 2019 and notify the apartment handover on May 1, 2021. Customer Beed Bijal Motichand paid a total of VND 1.84 billion, equivalent to 34% of the apartment value.

Similarly, at the end of 2018, customer Daryanani Ajay Lachman also signed a deposit contract with Phuc Khang to secure the signing of an apartment purchase contract. From the time of signing the contract until October 2019, Daryanani paid more than 2 billion VND, equivalent to 38% of the apartment value.

Realizing that Phuc Khang could not fulfill its commitment, the two customers repeatedly sent emails requesting Phuc Khang to refund the payment. However, this company has not yet done so.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/dien-bien-moi-vu-chu-dau-tu-du-an-rome-by-diamond-lotus-bi-to-chiem-dung-von-196231223090652119.htm