VietNamNet Bridge – The petition by the farmers, who are the creditors of Bianfishco, to
the Can Tho City People’s Court, for conducting bankruptcy proceedings for
Bianfishco, has been refused by the court.
On
April 11, the lawyer, representing tens of the farmers, who are the creditors
of Binh Anh Seafood Company (Bianfishco) filed a petition to the Can Tho City
People’s Court, requesting to conducting bankruptcy proceedings for Bianfishco.
Lawyer
Nguyen Thi Hong Ngan from the HCM City Bar Association, authorized by 20
farmers, said that the court’s officer refused to handle the case, because the
Bianfishco’s case has been assigned by the Can Tho City People’s Committee to
the debt settlement taskforce.
Nguyen
Van Chien, a farmer, to whom Bianfishco owes 7 billion dong, said that as a
creditor, he has the right to ask the court to open bankruptcy proceedings for
Bianfishco. Chien and other fish farmers have also requested the court to
consider the personal responsibility of Pham Thi Dieu Hien – General Director
of Bianfishco, in order to settle the debts of the company soon.
As the
Can Tho City People’s Committee refused to handle the case, creditors flocked
to the reception room of the Can Tho City People’s Committee’s office, asking
for the intervention of the local authorities.
Lawyer
Nguyen Truong Thanh from Van Ly Law Office in Can Tho City said that it is
impossible to request to declare Bianfishco’s bankruptcy now, because there has
been no audited report about the total assets and debts of the seafood company.
Thanh said that the Can Tho City People’s Court has made a reasonable decision
to refuse the petition by farmers.
Lawyer
Nguyen Van Duc from the Can Tho City Bar Association also thinks that the
cautiousness by the city’s court is a necessity, though farmers have the
legitimate aspirations of requesting the court to declare Bianfishco’s
bankruptcy.
Bianfishco
will be considered for bankruptcy only when financial reports show that its
total debts are higher than the total assets’ value. Meanwhile, no official
figures have been released so far.
Can Tho
City’s Mayor Nguyen Thanh Son said on April 11, that farmers have the right to
petition for conducting bankruptcy proceedings. However, he said the Prime
Minister has not released any instructions about the case, since the day Can Tho
authorities submitted the report about Bianfishco’s debts.
Bianfishco,
the company of Pham Thi Dieu Hien, a well-known businesswoman in the south, was
exposed in February 2012, after her son’s luxurious wedding which caught the
special attention from the public with the “demonstration” of a series of
luxurious cars running from HCM City to Can Tho City. It was estimated that the
wedding cost multi billions dong.
While
the wedding formalities were taking place inside Hien’s residence, a lot of
farmers gathered outside the residence asking Hien to pay debts.
Just several
days after the weddings, Hien left Vietnam for Singapore to have healthcare
services as informed by her husband, who has taken the office as Bianfishco’s
General Director during the time Hien is away.
When
asked how to deal with the debt worth more than one trillion dong, the husband
said that he would sell factories to pay debts. Bianfishco’s workers have been
told to stay off work for indefinite time, while the General Director has many
times defaulted on paying debts to farmers.
Prior
to that, local newspapers, quoting some lawyers, predicted that farmers would
not ask for conducting bankruptcy proceedings for Bianfishco, because farmers
may not be able to collect debts if Bianfishco bankruptcy is declared.
Commercial banks were believed to get the priority in recovering debts.
Source:
VnExpress
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