The group of officers on trial in the Viet A case.
On the afternoon of December 29, the Military Court of Hanoi announced the verdicts for 7 defendants in the case related to violations at the Military Medical Academy, Viet A Technology Joint Stock Company, and related units.
Accordingly, the court decided to sentence defendant Phan Quoc Viet (Chairman and General Director of Viet A Company) to 15 years in prison for "Abusing his position and authority while performing official duties" and 10 years in prison for "Violating regulations on bidding causing serious consequences," for a combined sentence of 25 years in prison.
The defendant, Phan Quoc Viet, is the Chairman and General Director of Viet A Company.
Former Lieutenant Colonel Ho Anh Son (former Deputy Director of the Institute of Military Medical Research, Military Medical Academy) was sentenced to 12 years in prison; Trinh Thanh Hung (former Deputy Director of the Department of Economic and Technical Sectors, Ministry of Science and Technology ) was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the crime of "Abusing official position and power while performing official duties".
Former Colonel Nguyen Van Hieu (former Head of the Equipment and Supplies Department, Military Medical Academy) was sentenced to 7 years in prison, former Major Ngo Anh Tuan (former Head of the Finance Department) to 4 years in prison, former Major Le Truong Minh (former Head of the Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department, Military Medical Academy) to 6 years in prison, and Vu Dinh Hiep (Deputy General Director of Viet A Company) to 6 years in prison for the crime of "Violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences".
During the trial on December 28th, the representative of the Procuratorate affirmed that in the case of "inserting" Viet A Company into the Military Medical Academy's research on test kits, there was personal gain on the part of Ho Anh Son, Trinh Thanh Hung, and Phan Quoc Viet.
Phan Quoc Viet participated in the project with the aim of enabling Viet A to quickly obtain illegal licensing for the company's test kit. Ho Anh Son's motive was self-serving, as evidenced by receiving 2.8 billion VND for the project and then enlisting many scientists to participate without conducting any research. Afterwards, Son asked them to transfer the money back to him.
The prosecutor emphasized that all the criminal acts of the other defendants were influenced by Trinh Thanh Hung, therefore, the indictment, prosecution, and trial of Hung as the ringleader was correct and appropriate.
After receiving permission from the Ministry of Health, Phan Quoc Viet thanked Trinh Thanh Hung with $350,000 (approximately 8 billion VND) and gave Ho Anh Son 2.5 billion VND as a "commission".
The "Rescue Flight" mega-case
The first-instance trial of the "rescue flight" case took place from July 11th to July 28th, with many defendants being former officials and civil servants. Of the 54 defendants, 21 were tried for "receiving bribes." Two former Deputy Ministers, two former Vice Chairmen of provincial and city People's Committees, one former Director, two Deputy Directors, along with many former Ambassadors and officials, appeared in court as defendants.
Hoang Van Hung (former Head of Department at the Security Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security), who was the lead investigator in the rescue flight case, also appeared in court on charges of fraud and misappropriation of assets amounting to 800,000 USD (equivalent to 18.8 billion VND).
At the conclusion of the first-instance trial, defendant Hoang Van Hung was sentenced to life imprisonment for "Fraudulent appropriation of property". In addition to Hoang Van Hung, three other defendants were also sentenced to life imprisonment. The remaining defendants received sentences ranging from 15 months of suspended imprisonment to 18 years of imprisonment.
Subsequently, Hoang Van Hung and 20 other defendants filed appeals.
In late December, the case went to appeal. Notably, before the appeal hearing opened, the lawyer for defendant Hoang Van Hung stated that Hung had just submitted a plea to the court, and had also influenced and asked relatives and friends to pay 18.8 billion VND on his behalf to mitigate the consequences of the case.
Defendant Hoang Van Hung had his sentence reduced by the appellate court from life imprisonment to 20 years in prison.
The panel of judges of the Hanoi High Court rejected the appeals and upheld the first-instance life sentences for the defendants: Pham Trung Kien (former official of the Ministry of Health), Nguyen Thi Huong Lan (former Director of the Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs), and Vu Anh Tuan (former official of the Immigration Department, Ministry of Public Security) all for the crime of "receiving bribes".
The appellate court reduced the sentences for the defendants: To Anh Dung (former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs) to 14 years in prison, Do Hoang Tung (former Deputy Director of the Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to 10 years in prison, and Tran Van Tan (former Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Nam province) to 5 years in prison, all for the crime of "receiving bribes"...
Hoang Van Hung's sentence was reduced from life imprisonment to 20 years in prison for "Fraudulent appropriation of property".
The first-instance verdict determined that, in relation to the policy of repatriating citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic, 25 defendants abused their positions, authority, and assigned duties to receive bribes totaling nearly 165 billion VND and abused their positions and authority while performing their official duties, causing losses of over 10 billion VND. 23 defendants, representing businesses, gave bribes totaling over 226 billion VND, 4 individuals acted as intermediaries in bribery totaling over 74 billion VND, and committed fraud amounting to nearly 25 billion VND.
Phase 2 of the Da Nang - Quang Ngai Expressway Project
In October 2023, the Hanoi People's Court brought 22 defendants to trial in the case involving the Da Nang - Quang Ngai expressway, phase 2.
The court determined that the defendants had failed to comply with numerous regulations during the construction process, from material selection and design to execution.
As a consequence, the Da Nang - Quang Ngai expressway, despite not meeting quality standards, was still put into operation. Phase 2 of this expressway, spanning 74km from Tam Ky to Quang Ngai, did not meet quality requirements.
The defendants in the case.
In this case, Tran Van Tam, former General Director of the Vietnam Expressway Investment and Development Corporation (VEC), was sentenced to 5 years and 6 months in prison for "Violating regulations on investment in construction projects causing serious consequences" and "Negligence causing serious consequences".
Former Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of VEC, Mai Anh Tuan, was sentenced to 42 months in prison for "negligence causing serious consequences".
The remaining defendants were sentenced to terms ranging from two years of suspended imprisonment to six years of imprisonment.
The "price gouging scandal involving trees"
In August 2023, the court determined that defendant Nguyen Duc Chung (former Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee) illegally directed the ordering of trees, allowing them to be planted first and settled later, and artificially inflating the price of the trees. The defendants' actions caused a total loss of 34.7 billion VND to the State.
Former Hanoi Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung and other defendants in court.
In this case, defendant Nguyen Duc Chung was sentenced to 18 months in prison for abusing his position and authority while performing his official duties; combined with previous sentences, the total sentence is 13 years and 6 months in prison.
The remaining defendants received sentences ranging from 24 months of suspended imprisonment to 8 years of imprisonment.
The "Embezzlement of Assets" case occurred at the Coast Guard Command.
The preliminary hearing in this case took place from June 27-29.
Former Lieutenant General and former Commander of the Coast Guard Nguyen Van Son appeared in court along with his subordinates, including: Hoang Van Dong (former Lieutenant General, former Political Commissar), Doan Bao Quyet (former Major General, former Deputy Political Commissar), Pham Kim Hau (former Major General, former Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff), Bui Trung Dung (former Major General, former Deputy Commander), Nguyen Van Hung (former Colonel, former Director of the Technical Department), and Bui Van Hoe (former Deputy Head of the Finance Department).
The defendants are on trial in the "Embezzlement of Assets" case that occurred at the Coast Guard Command.
After the incident was exposed, the defendants completed the compensation for damages to the Coast Guard Command (50 billion VND), but still faced harsh sentences. The sentences for the defendants ranged from 10 to 16 years in prison.
In this case, former Commander Nguyen Van Son was sentenced to 16 years in prison for embezzlement. Son was found guilty of directing subordinates to siphon off 50 billion VND from the budget allocated for the procurement of supplies and equipment.
The case occurred at AIC Company and Dong Nai General Hospital.
According to the verdict, AIC Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan bribed officials in Dong Nai province such as Tran Dinh Thanh (14.5 billion VND), Dinh Quoc Thai (14.5 billion VND), Phan Huy Anh Vu (14.8 billion VND)... to facilitate and influence AIC to win contracts at Dong Nai General Hospital.
In this case, after winning 16 contracts in violation of the law, AIC inflated the prices of these contracts, causing a loss of 152 billion VND to the State.
Former Dong Nai Party Secretary Tran Dinh Thanh and former Provincial Chairman Dinh Quoc Thai received sentences of 11 years and 9 years in prison respectively, both for the crime of "receiving bribes". Defendant Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan was sentenced to 16 years in prison for "violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences" and 14 years in prison for "giving bribes", totaling 30 years. However, Nhan remains at large and is subject to an international arrest warrant.
The defendants in court.
At the appeal hearing in May 2023, former Director of Dong Nai General Hospital Phan Huy Anh Vu had his sentence reduced by 3 years. Mr. Vu still has to serve a total of 16 years in prison for two charges: "Receiving bribes" and "Violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences".
Regarding defendant Hoang Thi Thuy Nga (former Deputy General Director of AIC), the appellate court rejected her appeal. The first-instance court sentenced her to 12 years in prison for the crime of "Violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences".
Minh Tue
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