Comments on the open letter accusing Vo Thanh Nhan of mishandling the funds of Vietnamese Scouting in the United States

Post date: Dec 15, 2017 2:00:20 AM

Witty Peacock

In July 2016, author Tom Huynh published a 33-page article with appendices entitled “About Overseas Vietnamese Scouting Activities.”¹ By March 2017, he continued to publish another article, entitled “International Central Committee on Vietnamese Scouting”, ICCVS².

Recently, on November 22, 2017, Tom Huynh released an open letter addressed to Vo Thanh Nhan, Chairman of the International Central Committee of Vietnamese Scouting. He also copied the letter to scout leaders, friends, and parents in the Vietnamese Scouting diaspora in the United State of America. This letter was disseminated via e-mail; it is available on some websites such as Scouts Abound³ and on social networks as well. The open letter claims that Mr. Vo Thanh Nhan has mishandled the money of the Vietnamese Scouting community in the United States over the past ten years.

Despite such serious accusations language in the open letter, so far the general response of the members of the Vietnamese Scouting units within the above-mentioned organization, especially in the United States has been dead silence.

Following are some comments on the issue at hand.

Everyone who has read “About Overseas Vietnamese Scouting Activities”, would see that author Tom Huynh is a careful writer. His article cites many primary sources.

Here, this writer only comments on

• One, the organization called “International Central Committee of Vietnamese Scouting” and its relation, if any, with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and the World Movement Organization (WOSM);

• Two, Tom Huynh's plan is to take the case to BSA, WOSM, and the US authorities, if by the end of December 2017, Vo Thanh Nhan does not answer his open letter.

“International Central Committee on/of Vietnamese Scouting” – “Hội đồng Trung ương HĐVN”

“Hội đồng Trung ương HĐVN” is a committee established in the United States in July 1983, under the name “International Central Committee on Vietnamese Scouting”; its correct Vietnamese translation should read “Ủy ban Trung ương Quốc tế Hướng đạo người Việt.”

In a letter dated June 7, 1983, WOSM Secretary General Laszlo Nagy suggested to the last President of the Vietnam Scout Association Nguyen Van Tho:

“We would suggest to you the creation of a committee of scouting in exile.”⁴

But that committee's name was deliberately translated to Vietnamese as “Hội đồng Trung ương HĐVN” which means Vietnam Scout Association's Central Council in English. It is a misleading translation. This committee has also moved increasingly farther away from the aim suggested by Laszlo Nagy in 1983 as the contact line, the single interlocutor among scouts of Vietnamese heritage active in the country of their residence after the Vietnam Scout Association dissolved in 1975.

Also, after its founding in 1983, the founding members of ICCVS did not register this committee as a non-profit legal person⁵ with the local authorities in the United States.

On November 17, 1997, however, a company named “Hoi Dong Trung Uong – Huong Dao Viet Nam (HDTU-HDVN) Inc. (International Central Committee on Vietnamese Scouting)” registered with the State of Texas in the United States. The initial three members of the Board of Directors were Harold Hai Do (Đỗ Phát Hai), De Tan Nguyen (Nguyễn Tấn Đệ), and Vinh Dao (Vĩnh Đào). It is known that Vinh Dao is a French citizen but uses a mailbox in Coppell, Texas, as his the address where the company registered⁵.

Article III of the Articles of Incorporation of the above-mention corporation stated:

“The Corporation is formed to promote friendship, solidarity, and mutual assistance among former Vietnamese Boy and Girl Scouts living in the United States of America; To preserve and enhance Vietnamese culture, tradition and customs through cultural and community activities.”

Article III of the Articles of Incorporation of “Hoi Dong Trung Uong – Huong Dao Viet Nam”, Texas (1997)

This corporation Hoi Dong Trung Uong – Huong Dao Viet Nam (HDTU-HDVN) Inc. has nothing to do with active scouts of Vietnamese heritage the United States of America or anywhere else in the world.

In an official letter from the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) dated June 3, 1996, BSA then International Director, Alfred D. Morin, Jr. wrote about ICCVS:

“Is a communication line and a coordinating guide to comply with the policies of the World Bureau of Scouting, along with the policies of the activities of each recognized Scout association where they reside.”⁶

However, on July 8, 2005, this “communication line” was broken. In other words, the charter/certificate of the corporation called “Hoi Dong Trung Uong – Huong Dao Viet Nam (HDTU-HDVN) Inc.” was forfeited by Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams⁷.

The sole legal entity named “Hoi Dong Trung Uong - Huong Dao Viet Nam (HDTU-HDVN)” had existed for 7 years and 8 months in Texas.

An organization called the International Central Committee of Vietnamese Scouting, somewhat similar to the English name of the company registered in Texas in 1997 was born on February 2, 2007, in Virginia, USA. Only the word “on” in the name of the corporation in Texas was changed to “of” in that new group's name in Virginia. The International Central Committee of Vietnamese Scouting in Virginia has no other name in another language. The initial three Board members of this group were Nhan Thanh Vo (Võ Thành Nhân), Lan Thuy Le (Lê Thuỳ Lan aka Lan Lebangasser⁸), and Quyen To Bui (Bùi Ngọc Tố Quyên⁹).

Article II of the Articles of Incorporation of the above-mention corporation stated in part:

“The corporation is organized and will be operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes, including, for such purposes, the elimination of prejudice and discrimination, the defense of human and civil rights secured by law...”

Article II of the Articles of Incorporation of the ICCVS Virginia (2006)

The stated purposes of this corporation are clearly having nothing to do with Vietnamese scouting as a part of its name indicates.

By June 1, 2012, the Commonwealth of Virginia State Corporation Commission declared that the International Central Committee of Vietnamese Scouting would be terminated by the end of June 2012, for its failure to file the annual report and to pay the annual registration fee as required by law¹⁰.

The International Central Committee of Vietnamese Scouting in Virginia had existed for 5 years 4 months in this state.

In short, the “Hội đồng Trung ương HĐVN” that has chapters in four regions of the USA and branches in other countries like Canada, Australia, Germany, and France was originally a committee established in 1983 by a group of former Vietnamese scout leaders. Only after 14 years (1997), an organization of the same name was registered with the local government of Texas; yet, its targeted members were only former Vietnamese boy and girl scouts living in the USA. Since 2005 this organization’s legal entity has ceased to exist.

However, in 2007, a similar English named organization (which quietly changed the “on” in the name to “of”) was established in Virginia but was forfeited in early June 2012 after five years four months because of its failure to comply with the law. Ironically, the stated objectives of this group have nothing to do with Vietnamese scouting.

In other words, since 2012, there has been no legal entity that acts as the link among Scouts of Vietnamese heritage overseas and as their liaison with other scouting organizations.

Tom Huynh’s plan, if by the end of December 2017 Vo Thanh Nhan did not answer his open letter

In his open letter, Tom Huynh wrote that he would bring the whole file to the World Organization of the Scout Movement and the Boy Scouts of America for them to take appropriate measures.

He plans to notify BSA of the suspicious behaviour of some members of the “Hội đồng Trung ương HĐVN”, an organization that exists only in a name. This writer believes that the BSA will not interfere or react because it has not resolved conflicts involving the International Central Committee of Vietnamese Scouting in the past, as a policy.

In a letter about the conflicts between Vuong Tran and ICCVS, Albert Kugler, BSA then Director of the Chief Scout Executive Office, on 18 December 2008, wrote:

“Unfortunately, the ICCVS is not a committee of the BSA, and we are not able to become involved in the conflict you are currently having with this group.”¹¹

The BSA did not intervene in the ICCVS conflicts because “ICCVS is not a committee of the BSA”. With that response even when ICCVS Virginia still existed, BSA would not waste its time with an ICCVS already forfeited since 2012. Scouts – youths and leaders – in the United States are members of the Boy Scouts of America; the BSA intervenes only when there is a problem that needs to be resolved among its ranks.

The World Organization of the Scout Movement would also have a similar response. In a 2010 World Scout Bureau Asia-Pacific Region report, Abdullah Rasheed, Regional Director of the Asia-Pacific Region of the World Scout Bureau, wrote:

“WOSM will only deal with those Scout leaders who are residing in Vietnam and are therefore representing Vietnam.”¹²

From this perspective, the organization outside of Vietnam called “Hội Đồng Trung Ương HĐVN” or ICCVS certainly does not represent Vietnam; it also does not belong to the Scout Movement in the country or represents Vietnam Scouting. Therefore, WOSM would not involve in the problems of an unincorporated organization and a non-legal entity in the United States even if that organization added the words “Vietnamese Scouting” to its name such as the International Central Committee of Vietnamese Scouting.

Thus, the author Tom Huynh's plan would be justified and could achieve results only in his effort to “provide information to the IRS and the Attorney General's Office of Virginia to help them have sufficient information to investigate and prosecute Vo Thanh Nhan, Vo Thien Toan, and Lan Lebangasser, as well as some individuals in the ‘Hội đồng Trung ương HĐVN’.”

However, the above issue is within the jurisdiction of the United States executive and judicial authorities; if exists, the violation(s) of the law of Vo Thanh Nhan, Vo Thien Toan, and Lan Lebangasser, members of the APACAF, and some individuals in the ICCVS do not involve scouting. It is also not within the scope of this writing.

In ICCVS By-laws, the term “financial” appears five times; yet it does not mention “financial reports” anywhere. However, these By-laws states, “The Auditor is an independent member who is in charge of examining all transactions of the ICCVS.”¹³

Thus, Mr. Pham Duy Chieu, the independent Auditor for several terms, 2006-2010, 2010-2014, and 2014-2018, is responsible for examining all transactions of the ICCVS. He would have huge accountability if there was a problem of misuse of funds of the ICCVS.

The website of the ICCVS does not publish its Treasurer's trimester statements or Treasury annual report. It does not post any Summary Financial Statements presented at the General Assembly, at the end of each 4-year term¹⁵. Bui Van Khanh is the Treasurer for the term 2014-2018.

According to the document titled, “Tài Liệu Hướng Dẫn Phần I Hệ Thống Điều Hợp” approved at the last General Assembly in 2016 and updated April 26, 2017, in Part 1, Coordinating System and Operating Principles, on Organizational Structure paragraph, it states that the elected members of the ICCVS Executive Boards and Regional Representatives, Branch Heads, etc., are active registered members of the National Scouts Association where they reside.

However, Pham Duy Chieu is no longer an active member of Lien Doan Potomac Inc., unit 1794 of the Boy Scouts of America¹⁶. And also even Vo Thanh Nhan remains a Board member of the National Capital Area Council, BSA¹⁷, the dossier that Tom Huynh intends to present to the BSA for them to consider proper measures might not yield an outcome as he expects.

The “International Central Committee on Vietnamese Scouting” ICCVS is a group that exists only in the name yet it has many branches over the world. For its members, this is an opportunity for them to renovate, bringing positive and radical changes to legitimize and legalize their organization.

Leading members of the ICCVS (2014-2018). Source: “Kỷ Yếu 85 Năm Hướng Đạo Việt Nam” (85 Years of Vietnamese Scouting Yearbook)

The ambiguity and non-legal status of the ICCVS today is the inevitable consequence of the attitude of its members for many decades: collusion, irresponsibility, unconcerned, the ignorant silence, or the outright despite and ignoring it.

This writer is looking forward to seeing how the members of this ICCVS group will address the issue during the upcoming Jamboree of Vietnamese Scouting in July 2018 in Virginia. However, the prospect of “business as usual” is also a possibility that could not be ruled out.

Montréal, December 2017.

Notes

1 Tom Huỳnh, J.D., “Về các sinh hoạt Hướng Đạo của người Việt tại hải ngoại”, tháng 7, 2016..

2 Tom Huynh, J.D., “Hội đồng Trung ương Hướng đạo Việt Nam”, March 2017

3 Tom Huynh, “THƯ NGỎ, Kính gửi Ông Võ Thành Nhân, Chủ tịch “Hội Đồng Trung Ương HĐVN” Scouts Abound-Chuyện Hướng đạo, 23 tháng 11, 2017. http://bit.ly/2A854dm

4 Tom Huynh, J.D.,“Về các sinh hoạt Hướng Đạo của người Việt tại hải ngoại”, tháng 7, 2016. Appendix no. 3.

5 ICCVS, “Vài nét về Hội Đồng Trung Ương / About Us”, http://108.194.234.203:8080/iccvs/index.htm, accessed 22 tháng 11, 2017.

6 Tom Huynh, J.D., ibid., Appendix no. 5.

7 Công hay diễu, “Hướng đạo Việt Nam, ICCVS, BSA, và WOSM”, Scouts Abound-Chuyện Hướng đạo, November, 2011.

8 Tom Huynh, J.D., ibid., Appendix no. 5.

9 VP, External Affairs, ICCVS (2006-2010) a position appointed by Nhan Thanh Vo, “Tài liệu Hướng dẫn”, v.2.51, cập nhật 5/2017.

10 Treasurer, ICCVS, another position appointed by Nhan Thanh Vo by QĐ 18/08/2010.

11 Tom Huynh, J.D., ibid., Appendix no. 6.

12 Công hay diễu, ibid., November, 2011.

13 Công hay diễu, ibid., November, 2011.

14 ICCVS, “Nội lệ của Hội Đồng Trung Ương - Hướng Ðạo Việt Nam”, http://108.194.234.203:8080/iccvs/index.htm, truy cập 22 tháng 11, 2017.

15 ICCVS, “Tài Liệu Hướng Dẫn Phần I Hệ Thống Điều Hợp” – Version 2.5. Đại Hội Đồng 2016 Chấp thuận. Updated 26/04/2017. Pages 9-10.

16 “...the two folks that you mention are not active currently in the movement.” Correspondance between the writer and scouter Michael Holder, White Oak District Commissioner – National Capital Area Council, BSA.

17 National Capital Area Council, BSA, https://www.ncacbsa.org/about-ncac/council-leadership/executive-board/, accessed December 27, 2017.