On 29/9, the People's Court of District 2, TP HCM, reopened the asset dispute trial between Vu Thuy Hong Ngoc, 48, and Chiem Quoc Thai, 52. This resumption followed a three-week pause to gather additional evidence.
Ngoc maintained her request for an equal division of numerous real estate properties and funds held in bank accounts. She withdrew her claims related to Viet My Aesthetic Hospital Co., Ltd. and three cars.
The plaintiff calculates the value of the disputed real estate at over 432 billion VND, alongside 31 billion VND in bank accounts. Ngoc is seeking over 454.8 billion VND from Thai.
Ngoc's legal team asserts that the assets in question are joint property, accumulated during their shared life. They argue that the two individuals began joint business ventures in 2007, with Thai authorizing Ngoc for various financial transactions and Ngoc contributing funds two times to stock trading. Following Thai's divorce in 2008, they cohabited as husband and wife and later married in the United States. Ngoc's side maintains that during this period, they jointly built the assets now under dispute. Furthermore, Ngoc claims she contributed significantly to the operations of Viet My Company, managing the business from 2007 to 2014 under Thai's authorization and using his personal account for transactions. Given these grounds, the plaintiff's side believes the assets created during their cohabitation are joint property and, without a clear contribution ratio, should be equally divided. At the trial, Ngoc's team presented additional stock transaction codes, reportedly showing her transferring money to Vietnam. However, the trial panel deemed this documentation to be for reference only.
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Ngoc at a court appearance in 2020. |
Thai refutes Ngoc's claims, arguing there is no basis to determine joint assets. He states that Ngoc has not proven the source of her funds, her capital contributions, or the grounds for establishing joint ownership over each asset. Regarding their relationship, Thai asserts Ngoc was an assistant at Viet My Company and denies they cohabited as husband and wife. He contends that even if cohabitation occurred, it would not establish a de facto marital relationship. According to Thai, they only had a "fake marriage agreement," which a US court later declared invalid. Consequently, Thai argues the case is not a dispute over joint marital assets. He maintains that if Ngoc seeks asset division based on contributions, she must prove her specific efforts and financial contributions to each real estate property and bank account.
In addition to seeking the rejection of Ngoc's demands, Thai filed a counter-claim, seeking over 51 billion VND in compensation. This amount covers funds he claims he asked her to withdraw, interest, and damages incurred due to his bank accounts being subjected to temporary urgent measures.
The trial panel is currently deliberating.
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Thai at a court appearance in 2020. |
The asset dispute between Ngoc and Thai has been ongoing for many years. Court records show Ngoc and Thai registered their marriage in the US in 2011, and in 2015, they completed the marriage annotation procedure at the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Justice. Later that year, Ngoc initiated divorce proceedings and sought a division of joint assets. Thai then filed a lawsuit in the US, requesting the marriage be declared invalid. In 2022, the High People's Court in TP HCM did not recognize their marital relationship, nor did it acknowledge the asset division outlined in the US court's order. Believing that their relationship had concluded but the assets accumulated during their cohabitation remained unresolved, Ngoc continued her lawsuit, demanding a division of the currently disputed assets.
Hai Duyen
