VietNamNet Bridge - The Besra Vietnam Group accused over 100 local people of breaking in its gold factory to rob assets, but the local government and residents have strongly opposed the accusation.

Bong Mieu gold plant in Quang Nam Province, ran by Besra Vietnam.

On Monday the Besra Vietnam Group reported a robbery at its factory on July 26 to the police and a number of newspapers.

According to the company, more than 100 people of Phuoc Son District in the central province of Quang Nam rushed into the warehouse of the Phuoc Son Gold Ltd. (based in the town of Kham Duc, Phuoc Son district) to "rob" over 15,000 iron trays containing sample ores (a tray is worth VND250,000 - $13), iron frames, mapping machines, sample containers, etc.

The company said that after the incident, its security guards called the police but when the police came to the scene, the robbers had already fled.

The firm estimated losses of up to billions of dong (tens of thousands of USD).

However, local officials confirmed that there was no robbery at this gold mining plant.

Mr. Hoang Hoa, director of the Office of Phuoc Son District People's Committee, said: "Hearing that the company stopped operating, some people in Kham Duc town collected some outdoor objects as scraps".

Hoa added that these people are debtors of this gold company. They gathered in front of the plant to claim the debts, upon hearing the plant was shut down.

Colonel Dao Quang, Phuoc Son district police chief, also said that there was no robbery occurring at the gold plant. The entire plant was safe.

"The trays which are used to store sample ores were left outdoors on a piece of wasteland, so some locals picked them to sell as scrap," Colonel Quang said.

According to Quang, the police have seized about 1,000 trays, which were sold to scrap traders for VND25,000 ($1.2)/tray. The remainder trays are being collected.

Earlier, on July 23 Besra Vietnam announced that they had suspended operations at Phuoc Son and Bong Mieu mine sites in Quang Nam after their bank accounts were blocked by the province’s Tax Department for delaying tax payment. This is the first time an investor was suspended for tax debt in the province.

According to the Canada-based company’s announcement, mandatory measures of  account blockage and invoice neutralization applied by the department since April this year had forced it to suspend operations at Bong Mieu and Phuoc Son gold mines on July 18 and 22, respectively.

The gold producer operating in Southeast Asia has temporarily postponed labor contracts to 1,000 employees.

The deputy head of the Quang Nam Tax Department Luong Dinh Duong, said that application of the mandatory measures on Besra’s subsidiaries is under the tax law.

Their delay of tax payment forced the department to block their bank accounts in accordance with the tax law.

Phuoc Son and Bong Mieu companies have exploited tons of gold to export for the last several years but had paid only a moderate amount of taxes.

The department will work with Phuoc Son and Bong Mieu Companies to finalize the debt amount. It once again wants to hear Besra’s tax payment measures to report to the province’s People’s Committee for solutions. In case Besra still refuses to pay their debts, Quang Nam seize its properties and propose business license withdrawal.

Phuoc Son’s tax debts have reached nearly VND300 billion (US$14.15 million) including personal and business income taxes, natural resource tax and environmental protection fees. It has owed VND100 billion since the end of 2013. Bong Mieu’s debts total VND51 billion.

According to Vietnam’s law, property can be seized in cases where debt payments have been late over 90 days.

Le Ha