Australian CEO detained, NSH Petro’s recovery hopes collapse

The recovery prospects of NSH Petro (PSH) have dimmed after its Australian CEO was detained on allegations of fraud involving false promises of billion-dollar financing that led to the misappropriation of nearly $4.9 million.

Nam Song Hau Trading Investing Petroleum Joint Stock Company (NSH Petro) announced that Ranjit Prithviraj Thambyrajah, its vice chairman and CEO, has been temporarily detained.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, its investigative agency received criminal complaints from several individuals, including Mai Van Huy, chairman of NSH Petro; Tran Dinh Quyen, chairman of Tin Thanh Group; Nguyen Thanh Tung, CEO of Green Globe Investment; and Nguyen Hoai Linh, chairman of Hai Nhan JSC.

They accused Ranjit Thambyrajah, an Australian citizen; Nguyen Viet Anh, a dual citizen of Australia and Vietnam; and Nguyen Thi Thanh Minh of fraudulently appropriating more than $3.8 million and VND5.46 billion ($207,270).

Investigations found that Thambyrajah had provided false information claiming that his firm - Berhero Pty Limited, trading as Acuity Funding - was capable of arranging hundreds of millions to billions of U.S. dollars in financing for Vietnamese companies.

This deception was allegedly used to collect fees totaling $4.9 million, constituting fraud under Article 174 of Vietnam’s Penal Code. He is currently being held at the Detention Center T17 of the Ministry of Public Security.

BIDV and Agribank are major creditors of NSH Petro

NSH Petro, a major fuel distributor in the Mekong Delta, southern Vietnam, is closely tied to Mai Van Huy, its founder and former director of Dong Petroleum Trading Company.

By late 2023, the company was in deep financial distress, facing VND1,200 billion ($45.55 million) in tax enforcement and continuously delaying bond interest payments and a debt load of VND9,400 billion ($356.84 million), six times its equity. Of this, VND6,000 billion were borrowings.

At the beginning of 2024, Thambyrajah, chairman and CEO of Acuity Funding, appeared on the scene, promising to inject $650 million into NSH Petro to bolster gasoline trading, fund five new plant projects, upgrade the Nam Viet Cai Rang plant, and complete mixed-use projects in Dong Phu and Phong Dien.

Following this commitment, he was appointed to the board of directors and made CEO, while Nguyen Viet Anh, Acuity Funding’s managing director, became deputy CEO for financial investments.

However, the promised funding never materialized. NSH Petro’s situation continued to deteriorate. By June 2025, NSH Petro’s shares were delisted from the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) due to qualified audit opinions on its 2023 financial statements and repeated delays in submitting 2024 audited and semiannual reports.

The stock then plummeted to VND1,700 (nearly $0.07) per share and was suspended from trading shortly after moving to the unlisted public companies market UPCoM.

According to the company’s self-prepared Q2 consolidated financial statements, in the first half of 2025, NSH Petro reported only VND15 billion ($569,430) in revenue, insufficient to cover its mounting financial expenses.

The company recorded a VND322 billion ($12.22 million) loss, bringing accumulated losses to VND831 billion ($31.55 million), while equity dropped to VND480 billion. Meanwhile, borrowings ballooned to over VND6,900 billion, and tax arrears rose to VND1,400 billion ($53.15 million) as of August 31, 2025.

With the Ministry of Public Security now confirming that Acuity Funding’s alleged billion-dollar financing promises were fraudulent, NSH Petro’s hopes of debt and tax restructuring have evaporated.

According to its financial statements, NSH Petro’s largest creditor is BIDV bank, with over VND4,300 billion ($163.24 million) in outstanding loans (short- and long-term combined).

Agribank follows with VND1,700 billion and Sacombank with VND50 billion. The company also has two overdue bond issues totaling VND759 billion ($28.81 million).