The Hanoi People’s Court sentenced Le Quoc Quan to 30 months inprison for tax evasion pursuant to Clause 3, Article 161 of the CriminalCode at a trial on October 2.
According to theindictment, Quan, 42, born in the central province of Nghe An,set up the Vietnam Solution Co. Ltd in April 2001 with its headquartersin Cau Giay district, Hanoi. Under its business registration, thecompany operated in a range of activities including investmentconsultancy, labour and vocational training services, electricalengineering, consultancy and technology transfer in agricultural andrural development. The company has changed its business registrationcertificate 13 times, with the last focusing on market researchinformation services.
During theoperation of the company, Quan instructed his accountant Pham Thi Phuongto make fake contracts and buying bogus added-value tax invoices inorder to evade corporate income tax.
In 2010and 2011, his company struck fake consultation deals worth 1.75 billionVND (80,000 USD) with nine experts. The tax deductions meant that thecompany reportedly dodged tax payment of over 645 million VND (30,900USD).
The experts who were ‘hired’ have eachadmitted to signing the fake contracts for a 1-3 million VND (40 – 140USD) reward each.
At the same trial, Quan’s accountant Pham Thi Phuong, 31, was jailed for eight months also for tax evasion.
The court ordered the Vietnam Solution company to pay back the amountof tax it had evaded in 2010 and 2011, as well as a fine of two timesthe amount of tax advantage.-VNA