Coffee shop owner prosecuted for late business registration HCM City’s Party Secretary Dinh La Thang has instructed the municipal police and the HCMC People's Procuracy to urgently clarify the case about a coffee shop owner who was prosecuted for registering for business several days late.   Mr. Tan and his "Xin Chao" cafe. The local media recently reported that the owner of "Xin Chao" (Hello) coffee shop in Binh Chanh District, HCM City was prosecuted just because he registered for business five days late. Mr. Nguyen Van Tan, 50, opened his coffee shop in Binh Chanh District on August 8 2015. At the same time, he applied for a business registration certificate and was promised to get the paper on August 19 2015. While waiting for the certificate, on August 18 2015, police officers of Binh Chanh District conducted administrative inspection at his coffee shop, and said it had operated without a certificate of business registration. Invited to the headquarters of Binh Chanh district police to deal with the case, Tan showed the promissory note on the date of giving business registration certificate and papers on the origin of food used at his shop. On August 17 2015, the Police of Binh Chanh District repeatedly invited him to the police station, where he was told that he had committed five administrative violations, including doing business without a certificate of business registration and certificate on sufficient conditions on food safety. The written notes of the violation were not made by the officers who directly inspected Tan’s shop but by two other officers. Immediately after the written notes were made, Binh Chanh District Police Agency imposed an administrative fine worth VND17 million ($800) on Tan. Tan paid the fine. On August 19 he received the business registration to sell food and drinks. On August 22 2015 he received the certificate on knowledge on food safety. On September 4 Tan completed records to apply for the certificate of sufficient conditions on food safety. The relevant agency promised to grant the certificate on September 29. While waiting for the certificate, Tan stopped selling food. However, on September 10, the local police once again performed administrative checks at his cafe and made a record of violations, including those related to food processing. They said the shop had harmful insects at the food processing area and used water that did not meet standards for food processing. "Based on the administrative violation records made on August 19 and 25 Colonel Nguyen Van Quy, police chief of Binh Chanh District, signed a decision to prosecute me," Tan said. This decision was approved by the People’s Procuracy of Binh Chanh District. During the investigation process, the Economic Management Division of Binh Chanh District sent a document to the investigating agency to confirm that Tan did business correctly to the business registration certificate. Even if Tan violated the rules on food safety, he would have been fined only. On March 11 2016 the People’s Procuracy of Binh Chanh District issued  prosecuting indictment against Tan for illegal business behavior. As described by local media, the cafe of Tan is opposite to the headquarters of Binh Chanh police agency, and the canteen of the police agency is located near the back gate of the police office. Some people questioned whether Tan’s shop "competed" with that canteen but Colonel Nguyen Van Quy, Binh Chanh district police chief, denied this. He insisted on a newspaper that the right to sell food and drinks in the canteen was tendered in accordance with the provisions. "The bidding process took place in a fair, open and transparent manner," Nguoi Lao Dong (Laborers) quoted Colonel Quy. Zing.vn cited Colonel Quy as saying that the rumor that the police deliberately put pressure to force closure of Tan’s cafe to “protect” the canteen inside the campus of the police headquarters is wrong. “The canteen is opened to serve the officials and employees of the police agency, not for business purposes,” he said. Quy also said that the prosecution and criminalization against Tan is strictly in accordance with law. Nguyen Van Dau, Head of the People’s Procuracy of Binh Chanh District, confirmed in Nguoi Lao Dong (Laborer) that the agency handled the case in compliance with the law. In Saigon Giai Phong newspaper, Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, Head of the Secretariat of the working group to implement the Enterprise Law and the Investment Law, said this was a rare case. He said it was impossible to handle this case like a criminal one. Also in the morning of April 20 , HCM City Party Secretary Dinh La Thang asked relevant authorities to clarify the case of Mr. Nguyen Van Tan. Just before the move, many lawyers voiced objections against this rare case, which they found it hard to believe. Tan told Giao Thong (Traffic) newspaper: "Since receiving the decision to initiate prosecutions and being prohibited from leaving the residence I and my family have almost collapsed. Our business activity has stalled while I have to pay monthly rent." Reportedly, Tan signed a 5-year land rent contract, with VND4 million (nearly $200)/month to open the coffee shop. In the latest news, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc today asked the HCM City authorities to investigate this case. Compiled by Linh Nhat, VNN