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A Smuggled container seized by Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department. Photo: T.H

Declare new goods but import used goods

The Sai Gon Seaport Customs Branch of Zone 1 has issued a decision to prosecute a criminal case related to illegal imports of eight containers of machinery and equipment by Central Sky International Trading Co., Ltd. (in Cu Chi- Ho Chi Minh City).

According to Sai Gon Seaport Customs Branch of Zone 1, in May, Central Sky International Trading Co., Ltd carried out customs procedures for an imported consignment under customs declaration No. 102643671912/A11 at the branch.The imported goods included 16 items, including skin Measurement machine, skin colour spraying machine and skin softener machine, and were declared as new goods originating from Taiwan. The value of the consignment was nearly VND 2.5 billion. The consignment was classified into the Yellow channel. Through checking the dossier and detecting suspicions, Sai Gon Seaport Customs Branch of Zone 1 temporarily stopped customs clearance and conducted a physical inspection of the goods. As a result, the consignment was found to be inconsistent with the customs declaration. All the consignment was used goods, including some goods banned from import.

Based on the results of verification, collected evidence and physical inspection and verification results of the Quality Assurance and Testing Center 3, the results of price determination of infringing goods conducted by Sai Gon Seaport Customs Branch of Zone 1 showed that Central Sky International Trading Co., Ltd imported goods which are not eligible, standards and technical regulations” and subject to the list of goods banned from import. The value of infringing goods was VND 1.9 billion.

Central Sky International Trading Co., Ltd was newly licensed in April, headquarters at No. 121 Street 129, Hamlet 12, Tan Thanh Dong Commune, Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City. The legal representative is Nguyen Thi Kim Cuc, born in 1987, residing in Khanh Hoa province. The verification at local tax authority showed Central Sky International Trading Co., Ltd does not hang its signboard, has no office and no signs of production and business. The company does not operate at the address registered with the tax office.

Female director as student was hired for VND 1 million

Expanding investigations, Customs discovered abnormalities in the establishment and operation of the Central Sky International Trading Co., Ltd. Nguyen Thi Kim Cuc- director of the company said she is a student of Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics. In April, Cuc was hired as a director from April 4 to June 21, 2019 by CHEN YU JEN for a salary of VND 1 million. All the company’s operation, importing goods from Taiwan and customs declaration are implemented by CHEN YU JEN.

Cuc said that she was requested to sign a blank piece of paper and the company printed the contents later and Cuc did not know about this. Regarding the letter of introduction signed by Cuc sent to Customs, Cuc checked and confirmed the signature on the introduction letter is not her signature and she did not know about this.

Notably, after violations of consignment were detected by Customs, on June 21, Central Sky International Trading Co., Ltd changed the first registration; the new legal representative is CHEN YU-JEN, born in 1964, passport Taiwan (China), residing at the business registration address of the company. This activity aims to erase traces, shirk responsibility and avoid inspection of the customs.

This information has shown the company’s establishment aims to gain illicit profits. This company vacated from its registered business address. The company hired Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Cuc as the director and legal representative. Cuc was requested to sign blank documents to import goods such as invoice and packing list. Although Cuc did not hold the director position since June 21, on October 7, the company still sent a dispatch signed by Cuc to the Sai Gon Seaport Customs Branch of Zone 1.

Based on these signs, it can be determined that Central Sky International Trade Co., Ltd has intentionally traded and transported goods banned from import, goods not eligible for import into Vietnam and falsely declared goods to avoid the Customs’ detection to bring goods into inland to get illegal profit. The case was transferred to Ho Chi Minh City Police for investigation.