Exposing the “Underground Production” of SJC Gold Bars

SJC – Vietnam’s national gold brand

SJC, wholly owned by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, is tasked with producing and trading gold bars, rings, and precious metal products. Since 2012, the State Bank of Vietnam designated SJC as the sole national brand for gold bars, requiring that every step of production be monitored through surveillance cameras and on-site inspectors.

By regulation, each production batch must be pre-approved for volume and timing. However, SJC executives exploited loopholes in this system to carry out illegal “off-the-books” production for profit.

A carefully staged operation

Investigators allege that Hang conspired with Tran Tan Phat, deputy director of the Tan Thuan gold workshop, to secretly insert raw gold purchased on the open market into authorized batches of reprocessed “defective” gold bars.

The scheme was executed in a calculated manner:

• Raw gold was pre-smelted into ingots and hidden inside the workshop.

• When inspectors were present, workers deliberately botched the pouring process, forcing a “redo.” At this stage, the smuggled gold was swapped into the workflow.

• For serial numbers, the team relied on a backup stamping machine, using unused serial ranges to disguise the illicit bars as genuine SJC products.

Between August 2022 and February 2024, the group carried out this ruse 56 times, illegally releasing 6,255 taels of SJC gold bars into the market. The scheme caused an estimated state budget loss of VND 74.8 billion (about USD 3 million). Hang personally pocketed more than VND 64 billion, while her accomplices shared billions more.

Expanding to SJC gold rings

From mid-2023 to September 2024, Hang also directed Nguyen Thi Hue and others to purchase raw gold and produce 46,285 SJC gold rings and jewelry pieces—equivalent to 11,503 taels of gold.

These products were sold to customers in Hai Phong, generating revenues exceeding VND 91 billion. After deducting costs, Hang and Hue split profits of around VND 13.2 billion.

Separately, Phat accepted raw gold from private businesses for unauthorized processing of SJC rings, pocketing more than VND 300 million in service fees.

Oversight loopholes exposed

Under a 2012 State Bank regulation, SJC was allowed to produce gold bars only when deemed necessary for market regulation or monetary policy. All dies and molds had to be sealed, and every batch was subject to close supervision.

Yet the investigation revealed that these safeguards were systematically manipulated, enabling senior executives and workshop staff to run a parallel production line for years. The scandal has inflicted major financial damage and tarnished the credibility of Vietnam’s national gold brand.