Public Statement Regarding Former Staff/Partners

This statement concerns the conduct of two former members of MoT+++ during their departure from the organization in late 2025, and what a subsequent investigation has uncovered.

Since 2015, MoT+++ has been built on trust, trust between artists, between collaborators, between an organization and the community it serves. We speak now because we owe it to you all, and because silence has allowed a narrative of falsehoods and half-truths to circulate.

Whom This Concerns

Nguyễn Trà My and Luke Schneider joined MoT+++ a decade ago. They met through our organization, married by the river at our former location, and were given increasing responsibility over time. For many years Trà My was awarded a generous salary for her efforts. With their assurances, Trần Thị Thanh Hà, who founded MoT+++ in 2015, stepped back from day-to-day operations, trusting them to steward what she had built. She remained central to the organization: cultivating the collector relationships, securing the institutional partnerships, and establishing the connections with foundations and partners like the Amanaki Hotel that made MoT+++'s growth possible. She attended every public moment, covered the costs, and consistently praised her team's contributions, proud of what she believed they were building together.

For four years before any formal partnership existed, Hà had already been splitting all revenues with Trà My 50/50. In 2025 this informal arrangement was documented in the company filings, and Trà My was granted formal half partnership in the organization. This was an act of generosity toward someone she considered a long-term partner and friend.

The Departure and Broken Handover

After Luke and Trà My announced they wanted to leave MoT+++ in September of 2025, they described their plan as wanting 'to start something from scratch,' claiming they were not yet sure what that would be and intended to take many months off first. They were given Hà's blessing and promised to hand the operations of the organization back properly. They set the terms of their own departure and insisted they would handle the transition responsibly. In the 3 months that followed, those promises were consistently broken. Meetings with legal and financial advisors were constantly cancelled and their behavior became erratic. They announced that all other members of the team they had managed were leaving with them, and refused to include Hà in team meetings. Out of respect for years of shared work and friendship, she did not pursue formal action.

The Forged Filings

When they stopped responding entirely, Hà consulted a lawyer simply to understand what could be done to stabilize MoT+++ given how little had been handed over. What they did hand over was selective, enough to maintain the appearance of good faith, with most actual responsibilities delegated to an intern. It was in the course of that legal review that the first discovery was made, and it was shocking. Four critical company documents had been filed with the Ho Chi Minh City Business Registration Office in November 2025 bearing forged signatures of Hà. These include a company registration application, the company charter, a capital transfer contract, and a power of attorney authorizing a third party, a man Hà has never met, to carry out the registration. Hà categorically did not sign these documents and knew nothing of their existence. The forgery is evident and, if this matter proceeds criminally, will not be difficult to prove, carrying with it severe criminal penalties under Vietnamese law. This filing was made while Trà My and Luke were still in their agreed handover period, still presenting publicly as cooperative partners. It was this discovery that prompted a fuller investigation into the organization's finances, and what that investigation revealed was extensive.

Undisclosed Self-Payment

Trà My's entitlement was to half of MoT+++'s revenues. Luke Schneider, her husband, was never a formal member of the organization, positioning himself as a volunteer who would handle part of Trà My's responsibilities. Over time he self-appointed the title of director. Through his association with MoT+++, he built a substantial private clientele for his art handling business, deriving considerable professional benefit from the organization's network and relationships. No salary arrangement for either of them beyond Trà My's existing entitlement was ever discussed with or agreed to by Hà, and no contract existed to justify one. Instead, they awarded themselves each three times as much as the rest of the team combined on a monthly basis, presenting these payments in financial documents produced retroactively for grant funding applications that were kept from Hà's eyes.

Falsified Accounting

Throughout this period, Trà My consistently assured Hà that the organization's finances were healthy and that outstanding obligations, including to the Amanaki Hotel, were being properly met. Those assurances were false. The documents Luke produced to account for all of this bear no resemblance to any recognizable standard of company accounting. They were internally self-contradictory, with revenue sources anonymized, entire transactions omitted, and a salary claim fabricated with no contractual basis. When the inadequacy of the first version became apparent, they produced a revised version, which appeared designed to shift blame and preempt the scrutiny they anticipated.

Misdirected Revenues and Missing Funds

All company funds, the majority of which came from partner organizations, were withdrawn from the official company account without documentation, accounting, or Hà's knowledge or consent. Virtually all payments from resident artists, collectors, and partners were systematically directed to Trà My's personal bank accounts, bypassing the organization entirely. This included the fees from every self-funded artist in residence at a.Farm during this period, none of which were ever deposited into the company account. At various points Hà raised concerns about irregularities. Each time she was given assurances; each time those assurances proved false. When she explicitly asked for the situation to be corrected, her request was disregarded. A substantial sum in sales remains unaccounted for, with investigation ongoing.

The Parallel Company

The claim that they intended to 'start something from scratch' is difficult to reconcile with what followed. During the same transition period, Trà My and Luke established a new company operating in the same field as MoT+++, from the same address where late artist Lananh Lê lived, worked, and is understood to have died. Their new venture appears to directly replicate MoT+++'s programs, including artist residency, art sales, and events, using the artist relationships, collector relationships, and institutional partnerships MoT+++ spent years building, all redirected without disclosure or consent. This represents a serious and ongoing harm to the organization's future.

In Regard to Lananh Lê

Lananh Lê was a beloved artist and a vital part of this community. MoT+++ worked closely with her, defended her from public scrutiny, supported her solo exhibition, and has since her passing been committed to honoring her memory and preserving her work, through documentation, an artist book, and continued advocacy for her legacy.

Among the assets stolen during the transition were 14 artist proof works from Lananh's digital series, seven works with two artist proofs each. These were the personal property of Hà, acquired through years of direct collaboration with Lananh in developing those works. MoT+++, with the agreement of Lananh's father, also represented additional editions of these works for sale as well as her physical works. All of these are now missing. Contracts signed by all parties were not included in the handover and it appears that further forgery may have been employed to leave a false trail.

We have become aware that false and deeply painful claims about Lananh regarding Hà have been spread privately. We will not repeat or amplify them here. We will say only that they are false, that the people who knew Lananh and who worked alongside Hà know the truth, and that exploiting a young artist's death to deflect from one's own conduct is something this community is capable of recognizing for what it is.

On Hà

Let us be direct: Hà received no salary, no commission, and no income from MoT+++ during the period in question. The claim that she benefited financially while others did the work is the inverse of what the financial records show. Her personal investment in MoT+++ over the past decade equals tens of billions in VND, and through the partnership of her friends and associates, MoT+++ was able to expand and develop the reputation it has today.

Where Things Stand

We made repeated attempts over many months to resolve this privately, including efforts to bring both parties to the table for direct discussion. They consistently declined to engage. Only after those attempts failed did we seek formal legal counsel. A formal demand was issued with a response deadline of April 17, 2026, covering the forged documents, the unaccounted funds, the missing artworks and contracts, the unpaid hotel debts left in the organization's name, and the failure to hand over company documentation, accounting records, or artist agreements at the end of the handover period. As of this writing, there has been no meaningful response. Soon, formal criminal filing with the relevant authorities will be inevitable.

To the Community

We also note that the organization's Facebook accounts were never returned as part of the handover. We urge that for the time being you all look to our Instagram and email for communication and updates on future programs and events. If any of you have regular contact with Luke, we ask you to urge him to make this right immediately.

If you have had financial dealings with MoT+++ during the period when Trà My and Luke were managing operations, as a collector, an artist, a partner, a funder, we ask that you reach out to us. Many agreements made during that period lack documentation on our side, and we are working to reconstruct a full picture. We especially ask anyone who has relevant information or direct experience to come forward. We urge all to exercise caution before engaging professionally or personally with these individuals.

For the past six months, MoT+++ has been rebuilding, its program, its values, its relationships with artists and with you. That work is underway, and we look forward to sharing what comes next very soon.

We make this statement out of necessity. This community is built on integrity, and silence in the face of what has happened here would itself be a failure of that integrity. If you have any questions about anything raised here, please do not hesitate to reach out to us directly. Thank you all for your support.