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Recent aluminum supply news remains inundated (tràn ngập) with the Zhongwang Holdings controversy (tranh cãi). Many remember the case from 2019 when US prosecutors (công tố viên) accused (buộc tội) six southern California companies of evading (trốn, lẩn tránh) aluminum import duties (thuế nhập khẩu). The organizations had ties to Zhongwang Holding’s owner Liu Zhongtian and the skipped duties came to $1.8 billion total.

The prosecutors claimed that between 2011 and 2014, the companies sold 2.2 million aluminum pallets (tấm nâng hàng) to a US entity (thực thể) controlled by Liu. They then utilized (tận dụng) melting (nung chảy) facilities (cơ sở) to turn the pallets back into commercial products (sản phẩm thương mại). Finally, they made “sales” to shell companies (công ty vỏ bọc, công ty bình phong) to inflate (thổi phồng) the company’s financial position (vị thế tài chính).

The Financial Times reported extensively (rộng rãi, bao quát, cùng khắp) on this ordeal (sự thử thách). The case brought notoriety (tai tiếng, tiếng xấu) to both Liu and his aluminum company, thrusting the firm into the public eye in the West.

...For anyone familiar with the 2019 shenanigans (hành vi tai quái, hành vi bất kham; sự bịp bợm; sự chơi khăm, sự lừa dối), the move outlines how some of China’s private sector corporations operate. A company with a market cap of $3.8 billion having its 252 subsidiaries  (công ty con) and affiliates (công ty liên kết) officially declared bankrupt (phá sản) by a court in Shenyang? It’s quite the decision. On top of that, the company boasts eye-watering debts of up to $64 billion. It’s like the economic equivalent of the “wild west.”

Indeed, Liu grew Zhongwang via debt-fueled acquisitions (sáp nhập bằng vốn vay). He then diversified (đa dạng hóa, phân tán) into all manner of initially domestic, but later overseas, enterprises using only the loosest logic. For instance, the purchase of a luxury Australian yacht maker likely netted the group nothing.

Bài trước: Làm sao để có tiền đầu tư chứng khoán?